November is National Diabetes Month, a time to promote greater awareness for the more than 20 million Americans who are living with this chronic illness that can lead to serious complications, including heart disease, blindness, high blood pressure, and stroke. At Altman & Altman, LLP, our drug injury lawyers are well aware of the health issues that patients suffering from diabetes can develop. One of the reasons for this is that we represent diabetes patients (and their families) that have developed bladder cancer after taking the medication Actos.
Already, numerous plaintiffs have filed Actos injury lawsuits suing Takeda Pharmaceuticals because they believe the diabetes drug caused their bladder cancer. There also have been studies confirming the link between Actos and this type of cancer. (Eli Lilly & Co., which marketed the diabetes drug for Takeda in the US, is also a common defendant.)
It wasn’t until 2011 that the US Food and drug Administration issued a safety communication notifying the public that Actos’s label had finally been modified to come with the warning that using the medication for longer than a year may significantly increase a patient’s chances of getting bladder cancer. The FDA especially wants people already suffering from blood cancer or who have a history of the disease to be very careful when taking Actos, or better yet refrain from taking medications with pioglitazone, which is the generic name of Actos. (On August 17th of this year, the FDA approved its first generic versions of Actos tablets. The manufacturer is Mylan Pharmaceuticals.)
Many Actos injury plaintiffs are claiming that the defendant(s) failed to provide proper warning about the potential side effects associated with Actos. Other possible serious complications include congestive heart failure, heart attacks, bone fractures, blindness, liver damage, and kidney damage.
Bladder Cancer
This type of cancer typically involves transitional cell carcinomas or squamous cell carcinomas. The National Cancer Institute reported nearly 71,000 new bladder cancer diagnoses and 14,330 deaths in the US in 2009.
No one wants to get bladder cancer or any type of cancer. For a medication to be increasing the risk of bladder cancer is unacceptable and grounds for a products liability lawsuit against the manufacturer, distributor, and others involved should this illness result.
Common Bladder Cancer Symptoms:
• Dysuria • Blood clots or blood in the urine • Urinary tract infections • Flank pain in the lower back in the kidney area • Swelling in the lower leg area • Pelvic mass (growth)
• Weight loss • Pain in the bone or anal, rectal, or pelvic areas • Anemia
The bladder is the area in the urinary tract that stores urine. Transitional cells line the bladder area and it is in these cells that bladder cancer is most likely to develop and then spread to muscle, fat, and tissue. Bladder cancer can also reach out to other areas of the body. It must be treated right away.
Please contact one of our Actos injury lawyers to request your free case evaluation.
Presidential Proclamation — National Diabetes Month, 2012, The White House, November 1, 2012
Bladder Cancer, National Cancer Institute
Type 2, American Diabetes Association
More Blog Posts:
Actos Lawsuit Filed by 14 Plaintiffs Blames Diabetes Drug for Bladder Cancer, Drug Injury Lawyers Blog, October 5, 2012
Despite Actos Lawsuits, FDA Approves Type 2 Diabetes Drug’s Generic Version, Drug Injury Lawyers Blog, September 5, 2012
Framingham, Massachusetts Compounding Pharmacy Linked to Fungal Meningitis Outbreak Had Settled Wrongful Death Lawsuit Over Similar Allegations in 2007, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, October 12, 2012