Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog
In June of 2011, just two days after Actos was pulled off the shelves in France and Germany, the FDA warned doctors and patients in the U.S. about the increased risk of bladder cancer while taking the medicine for over a year. Takeda, the largest pharmaceutical company based in Japan, is now facing hundreds of defective prescription drug lawsuits and a severe loss in sales as patients are warned about the drug. The once-a-day pill was created to help control blood sugar levels for patients with type 2 diabetes.
According to the American Diabetes Association, type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes; it affects millions of Americans every day. With type 2 diabetes, the body does not produce enough insulin or the cells ignore the insulin. Insulin is necessary for the body to be able to use glucose for energy. When you eat food, the body breaks down all of the sugars and starches into glucose, which is the basic fuel for the cells in the body. Insulin takes the sugar from the blood into the cells.
Untreated patients with type 2 diabetes may experience constant fatigue, weight loss, blurred vision, increased thirst and several other serious side effects. “Actos focuses on two of the common problems that lead to high blood sugar in type 2 diabetes. The medication helps your body better use the insulin it makes, and also stops your liver from making more sugar when it doesn’t need to. By treating these problems, the sugar in your blood can get to where it needs to go so it doesn’t continue to build up in the bloodstream” (Actos Website) Actos appeals to patients due to the ease of taking it and the short term results but now the drug proves to have much more serious long term side effects that Takeda failed to mention to their patients. “The FDA analyzed data from the first five years of a 10-year Actos safe study Takeda begun in 2001 and concluded this June that the risk of bladder cancer was 40 percent higher for patients taking Actos for at least a year, although still small: an extra 28 cases a year for every 100,000 people taking it.” (CBS News)
(Visit the Mayo Clinic site to read more about bladder cancer symptoms)
Over the last 2 months lawyers across the U.S. have seen hundreds of filed complaints about Actos leading to bladder cancer. Don’t hesitate to contact your Dallas Fort Worth Actos lawyer. At Borchardt Law Firm we want to make sure the medicine patients are taking is safe. We have dealt with several defective prescription drug cases and feel the work we do will protect future generations of Texans. If you feel you may have been negatively effected after taking Actos please give us a call to learn more about your legal options.
Toll Free: 866.832.9300
Phone: 817.332.9300
Fax: 817.332.9301Burnett Building
801 Cherry St #1005
Fort Worth, Texas 76102
firm@attorneysmb.com
Sources:
http://www.diabetes.org/
http://www.actos.com/HowItWorks.aspx
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2011/08/05/actos-bladder-cancer.html