The Diabetes Drug Actos And Its Links With Bladder Cancer

If you tend to keep a look out for what's going on in the legal world, then you may have noticed that the drug Actos has very much been in the limelight as of late but for all the wrong reasons. Just recently, a team of attorneys Los Angeles have been coming across many alarming stories of the drug and its link with bladder cancer.

So what exactly is Actos used for and what is it supposed to do?

Actos is a drug that is used for people with type 2 diabetes. It is used in conjunction with a proper diet and exercise and is designed to improve blood sugar controls in adults. Actos does this in two ways... firstly it helps the body to make better use of the insulin that it generates and secondly it prevents the liver from making excess levels of sugar when it is not necessary, thus preventing a build up of dangerous sugar levels in the bloodstream.

Actos and cardiovascular issues

It has been well documented that Actos is not for everyone and in some cases can cause or exacerbate existing cardiovascular problems in patients. In fact a warning on the box of the product tells people who intend to take the drug that anyone with an existing heart condition, kidney problems or indeed people over the age of 80 should not take this drug and should seek other alternatives.

Bladder cancer

A team of Los Angeles attorneys who are well versed in dealing with medical issues explain that in August of last year (2011) a study was carried out by the popular website EhealthMe who commissioned a report into the drug and it's direct links with bladder cancer. According to figures contained within the report they make for interesting reading. Out of the many millions of people that take the drug in the USA, 22,515 people have developed heart related side effects and 0.22% are reported to have developed bladder cancer. Less that a quarter of one percent doesn't sound like a lot but when you consider that there are probably tens of millions of users worldwide then this figure soon mounts up.

Actos in Europe

In June of 2011 the drug had its sales suspended by pharmaceutical regulators in Germany and France because of the possible links with bladder cancer and around this time the French authorities commissioned their own study. In it French Medicines Agency looked at 155,000 people who were taking the drug in France between 2006 and 2009 and they also looked at a further 1.3 million diabetic sufferers who were not taking Actos. It came to light that Actos takers have a 22% higher risk of developing bladder cancer than those that didn't take the drug. These figures were significantly higher in anyone taking a cumulative dosage of over 28,000 mg or more during this study period. If you or a loved one has developed bladder cancer and believe that it may be because of taking the diabetes drug, then be rest assured that there is a form of recourse that you can take. Contact an experienced Los Angeles lawyer for further details.

Actos In the US

In the light of these findings, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioned a review on the drug that is still under way. Initially pharmaceutical company Takeda who make the drug did their own investigations into this and stated that a ten-year study had not indicated a significant enough relationship between the drug and bladder cancer. However what did come to light was that any patients taking the drug over a prolonged length of time (2 years or more) did indeed face an 'exposed' danger to bladder cancer. Despite the bans in France and Germany, Actos is still regularly prescribed as an aid to type 2 diabetes in the States.

At present investigations are still ongoing by the FDA and other authorities and cases are starting to come to light. Class action lawsuits are at present being put together by experienced Los Angeles attorneys and many of them will offer free lawsuit evaluations in order that affected people can have a no obligation meeting so that they can ascertain as to whether they have a case to answer.

Clearly this is something that isn't going to go away as more and more cases are coming to light, so if you feel that you are a victim to the diabetes drug Actos, then don't suffer in silence, be rest assured that a highly skilled team of Los Angeles lawyers will aggressively fight your corner to deliver the full and fair compensation that you require.