Actos – Type 2 Diabetes Medication Linked To Higher Risk of Bladder Cancer, Heart Attack, Stroke, and Bone Fractures
If you took Actos to treat your type 2 diabetes and have been diagnosed with bladder cancer, suffered a heart attack, stroke, or bone fracture, we encourage to talk with one of our attorneys to determine if you are entitled to compensation. The call is free, and we offer a FREE Consultation.
Actos Linked to Bladder Cancer
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is informing the public that the Agency has approved updated drug labels for the pioglitazone-containing medicines to include safety information that the use of pioglitazone for more than one year may be associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer.
FDA Safety Alert Regarding Actos (pioglitazone) Associated with Increase Risk of Bladder Cancer
Actos Cardiovascular Side Effects
Actos (pioglitazone) has long been viewed as a safer alternative to Avandia (rosiglitazone), but recent research suggests that both drugs carry increased health risks including cardiovascular side effects such heart attack and stroke. Both drugs are part of a larger class called thizolidinediones, which reduce the body’s insulin resistance. They are considered to be one of the strongest medications for treating Type 2 diabetes.
Over 200,000 Medicare patients participated in a study that showed Avandia’s increase risk of heart attack, cardiovascular disease, stroke and death by 30-to-40 percent versus an older diabetes medication. The study claimed that the risk was not seen with Actos.
Another study was done more recently that analyzed nearly 29,000 patient records of those who took either Avandia or Actos from 2001 to 2005. After adjusting data for age, gender and prior heart conditions, Actos had more instances of heart attack (121 vs 96 for Avandia).
Actos Linked to Increase Risk of Bone Fractures
A study linked Actos to an increased risk of fractures in postmenopausal women with Type 2 diabetes, as well as men who were also prescribed Actos with a loop diuretic. In each gender, fracture risk continued to increase the longer the person was on the medication. These were not typical fractures seen by those suffering from osteoporosis (commonly spine and hip fractures), researchers observed people in the study suffering from arm, leg, and lower limb fractures.
