Actos Bladder Cancer Review

Actos lawyers are pursuing potential lawsuits over the drug for former users of the diabetes medication who have been diagnosed with Actos bladder cancer. Health regulators in some European countries have suspended sales of the drug and the FDA required new warnings about the potential risk of Actos bladder cancer in June 2011. Recent research has suggested that Actos side effects may increase the risk of bladder cancer the longer the medications is taken. Early data from an on-going 10 year study of Actos side effects conducted by Takeda Pharmaceuticals has suggested that users of the diabetes drug may face an increased risk of cancer when the medication is taken for more than a year.

Actos was approved by the FDA in July 1999 as a treatment for type 2 diabetes. It is part of the same class of drugs as Avandia (rosiglitazone), which has been linked to an increased risk of heart attacks and other health problems. In recent years, use of Actos has increased as some studies have suggested that the diabetes medication may be safer than Avandia. In September 2010, the FDA announced that the potential Actos bladder cancer risk was being reviewed and evaluated. At the time the agency said early data from a 10-year study submitted by Takeda, the maker of Actos, had not indicated a statistically significant association between exposure to the drug and bladder cancer risk. However, there was some evidence that patients taking Actos at least two years or at the highest cumulative doses (>28,000 mg) did face a greater danger from bladder cancer.

Currently there are three different types of Actos bladder cancer that have been identified. The most common type that has been reported is referred to as “transitional cell carcinoma” and begins in the inner lining of cells located within the bladder. Adenocarcinoma, which begins in the cells that make up and release mucus and other fluids, is a rare but potential type of Actos bladder cancer. Four percent of patients diagnosed with Actos bladder cancer have been affected by squamous cell carcinoma, a cancer that starts in thin flat cells.

Avandia and Actos: Heart Problems in Common

A number of personal injury lawsuits have been filed dealing with both type II diabetes drugs Avandia and Actos. They are both TZD medications, which work by helping reduce body tissue insulin resistance and therefore help diabetics maintain healthy blood sugar levels, but some of the Actos side effects they have been linked to are different. The majority of Actos lawsuits cite bladder cancer as the side effect suffered by the patient, whereas Avandia has been linked much more to heart attacks and other heart problems. A 2007 study showed that Avandia users are about 43 percent more likely than the average person to have a heart attack.

Because of the risk of Avandia heart problems and despite the risk of Actos bladder cancer, a number of health care professionals have been opting to use Actos instead of Avandia to treat type II diabetes because they are such similar medications. In fact, besides heart problems and bladder cancer which were considered unique to Avandia and Actos respectively, side effects of the two drugs are relatively similar--heart failure, water retention, weight gain, and hypoglycemia are all side effects of both medications.

Actos Linked To Deadly Cancer In Lawsuit

The diabetes drug Actos has been linked to a number of serious side effects, one of them being cancer. Cancer is one of the most serious diseases in the United States and could put a patient's health at risk. A lawsuit filed by Nina Kingsdale and her Actos lawyer of New York claims that the drug was responsible for her husband's death in December of 2009. He was prescribed Actos for the treatment of type II diabetes in 2001 and had been taking it for years before his cancer diagnosis.

Actos Lawsuits surge in Illinois

More actos lawsuit are being filed by people who claim the type 2 diabetes drug caused them to develop bladder cancer. The most recent actos bladder cancer lawsuit, filed in federal court in Illinois by a Georgia woman, Josephine Stodgill, alleges Takeda Pharmaceuticals failed to warn patients about the bladder cancer risk associated with Actos.The Stodgill lawsuit is just the latest to be filed by a victim of bladder cancer allegedly caused by Actos. So far, at least 54 cases have been filed in federal district courts throughout the U.S. plaintiffs argue that Takeda failed to properly research the medication or warn about the risk.

Recent research has suggested that actos side effects may increase the risk of bladder cancer the longer the medications is taken. Actos is expected to be named in hundreds of lawsuits claiming it caused users to develop bladder cancer.

Actos Risks Post Potential Threats at Same Rate as Avandia

Actos (pioglitazone) was approved by FDA to treat Type 2 Diabetes in July, 1999. It is Takeda Pharmaceuticals’ best-selling drug, with sales of $3.4 billion last year. Sales have increased in recent years since a number of studies have suggested that Actos side effects appeared safer than its competitor, Avandia, which has been linked to an increased risk of heart attacks and deaths. Some experts and even federal regulators have called for an Avandia recall, which would likely lead to even greater use of Actos to treat diabetes, possibly increasing the risk of Actos bladder cancer sufferers. In 2005 results from the PROactive Study (PROspectivePioglitAzone Clinical Trial in Macro Vascular Events) demonstrated a higher percentage of  bladder cancer cases with Actos use than in competitors’ drugs following three years of research leading victims to file an Actos lawsuit. That information was not included when the study’s findings were published.

Bladder Cancer Risks WithActos May Be Found In Other Diabetes Drugs

A class action actos lawsuit has been filed against Takeda Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly on behalf of all users of the diabetes drug Actos, seeking financial compensation and medical monitoring as a result of the drug makers’ failure to adequately warn about the risk of bladder cancer from Actos. But Actos is not the only drug to contain its active chemical, pioglitazone. Avandia and Actos are members of a drug family called the thiazolidinediones, abbreviated TZDs. This is a relatively new class of oral anti-diabetic drugs which was developed during the 1990s. These drugs began their careers showing great promise in the treatment of insulin resistance, and hopes were raised by preliminary research that they might be able to rescue failing beta cells.Unfortunately, over time all three were found to cause life-threatening actos side effects, the risk of which was far greater than the benefit these drugs provided. 

The potential risk of actos bladder cancer problems is now being reviewed by health regulators in the United States and other countries throughout the world.

Rate of Bladder Cancer WithActos Leads To Mounting Lawsuits

On June 15, 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a ‘Drug Safety Communication,’ informing the public that use of the diabetes medication Actos (pioglitazone) for more than one year may be associated with an increased risk of actos bladder cancer. Information about this risk will be added to the Warnings and Precautions section of the label for pioglitazone-containing medicines. In a five-year interim analysis of the Kaiser Permanente Northern California, study, the FDA found that there was no significant increase in the risk for bladder cancer in patients taking pioglitazone. However, it was found that the risk for bladder cancer did grow with increasing dose and use longer than one year. The data showed that pioglitazone treatment for over 12 months carried a 40% increased risk of bladder cancer.

In recent months, dozens of individuals throughout the United States have filed a bladder cancer actos lawsuits, alleging that Takeda pharmaceuticals failed to adequately research their medication or warn about the potential risks associated with use and knowingly sold the drug while being aware of those risks. Plaintiffs indicate that they are bringing the Actos class action to recover money damages, medical monitoring and other relief for all individuals who ingested Actos are having Actos Side effects in the United States or its territories since it was introduced in July 1999.

Consolidation of Actos Lawsuits Into MDL Requested

Actos is the best-selling type II diabetes drug in the world, but over the summer, growing concerns about its possible link to actos bladder cancer reached a crescendo. On June 15, 2011, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) issued a safety communication stating that use of Actos for more than one year may be associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer. That same month, sales of the drug were suspended in France and Germany after a separate study commissioned by French regulators demonstrated an increased risk of bladder cancer associated with actos side effects in people who took it the longest and at the highest cumulative dose. On July 12, Takeda Pharmaceuticals officially recalled Actos from the market in France.

If an Actos MDL is formed, all cases involving allegations that plaintiffs developed bladder cancer from Actos would be transferred to the same judge. In addition, as actos lawyer continue to review and file new complaints in federal courts throughout the United States, those cases would also be transferred into the MDL for pretrial litigation.Actos (pioglitazone) was approved by the FDA to treat Type 2 Diabetes in July, 1999.

Actos Lawsuits Balloon Ahead of MDL Petition

Actos bladder cancer lawsuits could be headed for consolidation in a multidistrict litigation (MDL). Late last month, plaintiffs in one such actos lawsuit petitioned the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistriction Litigation for the consolidation, requesting that all pending and future actos bladder cancer lawsuits in federal courts be transferred to U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois before Judge G. Patrick Murphy.An MDL allows lawsuits associated with a particular product to be coordinated under one judge for pretrial litigation to avoid duplicative discovery, inconsistent rulings and to conserve the resources of the parties, witnesses and the court. When lawsuits are consolidated as a multidistrict litigation, each retains its own identity. 

Concerns about the potential risk of bladder cancer from Actos first surfaced when it was discovered that rats given the drug had a higher rate of bladder tumors. Recent results from an on-going 10 year study, involving nearly 200,000 patients with diabetes, suggests that there may be a risk of bladder cancer from actos side effects the longer the medication is taken.Many have indicated that the FDA should remove Actos from the market in the United States as well, due to the risk of bladder cancer outweighing the potential benefits provided by the medication.

Actos Bladder Cancer: Why Weren’t Patients Warned?

Most of the Actos lawsuits filed by victims of harmful Actos side effects are  focused on the fact that the drug did not warn on its label of one of the most serious side effects that have been linked to the drug—Actos bladder cancer. Cancer is one of the most notorious diseases in our culture, and for good reason. It ravages the body of those it affects, causing them to undergo exhaustive and exhausting treatments which can range from grueling chemotherapy to painful and expensive surgery. The financial and physical cost of cancer, even when it is not fatal, is high—not to mention the psychological cost it takes from patients, their spouses, their children, and their loved ones.

Actos Lawsuit Sites Bladder Cancer as Cause for Patient’s Death

Public Citizen, a prominent consumer watchdog group, has indicate that the risk of actos bladder cancer from Actos is further proof that the diabetes drug needs to be removed from the market, and reinforces their earlier decision to place the drug on their “Do Not Use” list. This warning has come too late for some, as in the case of Robert Hodges, who died as a result of complications due to bladder cancer. Judith Hodges, filed a actos lawsuit on behalf of her late husband, alleging that his years of Actos use caused him to suffer severe, permanent and life-threatening personal injuries, pain, suffering, emotional distress, and a premature death.

Actos (pioglitazone) is a member of a family of drugs called thiazolidinediones, or glitazones, which have been linked to a number of health problems of actos side effects and have not been shown to reduce the risk of a heart attack or heart failure for diabetics,

Actos Lawyers Prepare for Court Battle

Actos is a pharmaceutical medication used to treat Type 2 Diabetes, a condition that affects a large number of people worldwide. It was approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treatment of the condition in 1999 and has enjoyed relative success since then. However, including actos bladder cancer, a number of patients have seen a darker side of the drug and have experienced severe Actos side effects.

As anyone familiar with the disease knows, cancer is a serious and sometimes deadly condition that requires harsh and extensive treatment. Actos Lawyers are at court, battling for the patients who have had cancer and are at risk for contracting the disease again, and may never regain the same quality of life they had before.

Actos Side Effects Call Plaintiffs to Action

A significant number of patients of the type 2 diabetes treatment drug Actos have filed lawsuits against drugmaker Takeda because of potentially life-threatening Actos side effects. Most plaintiffs cite bladder cancer as their reason for filing suit. They are accusing Takeda of knowing that the drug caused bladder cancer based on tests on animals, which showed signs of bladder cancer when Actos was administered. Although this was allegedly already known by Takeda, they did apparently nothing to warn plaintiffs about the risk, instead continuing to market the drug. Only in June of 2011 did the Food and Drug Administration release the results of a study that seemed to point to the fact that taking Actos for over a year did, in fact, increase a patient’s chances of getting Actos bladder cancer.

There are such a significant number of cases that have been filed surrounding Actos that plaintiffs have petitioned the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to consolidate the cases into multidistrict litigation by Actos lawyer.

Bladder Cancer is Acknowledged as Main Actos Side Effect

Actos was first presented as a safer alternative to Avandia as a type 2 diabetes treatment. In recent years though, information has come to light that has thrown that assumption into question. Early data from an on-going 10 year study of Actos side effects conducted by Takeda Pharmaceuticals has suggested that users of the diabetes drug may face an increased risk of cancer when the medication is taken for more than a year. According to a separate five-year data from the study, which involves 193,099 patients with data, patient taking the drug for 12 months or longer had a 40% increased risk of developing Actos bladder cancer. The risk increased with both dose size and duration of treatment.

Actos Cancer Litigation Beginning to Build

Sales of Actos have increased significantly in recent years, due to potential concerns about side effects of Avandia. However, recent research suggests that Actos side effects are also a potential concern for diabetes patients. Concerns about the potential risk of Actos cancer side effects first surfaced when it was discovered that rats given the drug had a higher rate of bladder tumors. Recent results from an on-going 10 year study, involving nearly 200,000 patients with diabetes, suggests that there may be a risk of Actos bladder cancer the longer the medication is taken. All of the Actos lawsuits involving cancer include similar