The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) came out with a statement Wednesday, June 15 2011 warning that the diabetes medication Actos (generic: pioglitazone) increases the risk of bladder cancer by no less than 40% if Actos is used for longer than a year, or with higher dosages of Actos. There have been suspicions for some time now that Actos causes bladder cancer, but the FDA’s recent release makes the claims suggesting a correlation between diabetes drug Actos and cancer even stronger.

Going forward, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is requiring modifications to Actos’ drug label in order to portray the recent findings that Actos may significantly increase the risk of bladder cancer. Actos is manufactured by drug-maker Takeda Pharmaceutical North America. This release by the FDA is a major blow to the class of diabetes medications known as thiazolidinediones, which Actos is a part of. Avandia, another diabetes medication in the same class, has also been under fire lately due to reports that Avandia causes increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

As of now, the US FDA is not taking any further action against Actos other than mandatory label changes until further test results return. Actos has already been suspended in France, and officials in Germany have warned physicians not to prescribe Actos to new patients. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced back in September 2010 that Actos was under investigation, and these warnings are a result of those tests.

The data which suggests an increased risk of bladder cancer with Actos comes from an ongoing 10-year study of over 190,000 diabetes patients. The increased risk of bladder cancer specifically comes to those who have taken Actos for more than a year or who have taken larger dosages. A French study showed a 22% increase in risk of bladder cancer to those who had ever taken Actos at all. The French study revealed a 75% increased risk of bladder cancer for those who had taken a cumulative dosage of over 28,000 milligrams of Actos.

Actos Bladder Cancer Lawsuit

If you or a family member took Takeda Pharmaceutical’s drug Actos (pioglitazone) and you have developed bladder cancer, we encourage you to contact a pharmaceutical lawyer at our firm immediately. An experienced pharmaceutical products liability lawyer at the Willis Law Firm can assist you in legal action in a potential Actos bladder cancer lawsuit against the makers of the drug.

Please fill out our online legal evaluation form to the right or call 1-800-883-9858 and we will contact you within 4-12 hours for a free confidential case review. Contact our law firm immediately so that we may explain the rights and options available to you and your family.