Actos Bladder Cancer Plaintiffs from Down Under May Be Coming Up

Sydney, AustraliaIt appears as if Actos bladder cancer is an international problem, with bladder cancer patients in Australia and New Zealand urged to take legal action against Takeda Pharmaceuticals. They have been urged to join the US class-action Actos lawsuit with regard to the diabetes drug and adverse effects that have become a concern of not only the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but also the health authority in Australia.

According to The Dominion Post of Wellington, New Zealand (5/28/13), Actos is funded by the government health authority for Type 2 diabetes patients. In New Zealand, that funding translated to 4,000 prescriptions for either Actos or Pizzacord in 2012, according to information supplied by Pharmac.

In spite of a recent judgment that saw a $6.5 million bladder cancer lawsuit tossed out of court, US legal proceedings against the manufacturer of Actos continues to ramp up. To that end, a law firm in Australia has lodged a complaint here in the US on behalf of a client who was diagnosed with Actos bladder cancer two years after first being prescribed the medication.

Actos and bladder cancer has been on the radar for a few years now, but it hasn’t always been the case. Pioglitazone was originally in the shadow of GlaxoSmithKline’s Avandia, until studies about six years ago revealed serious heart risks associated with Avandia.

While Actos heart failure is also a risk with pioglitazone, it was deemed safer than Avandia. Countless doctors switched their patients to Actos. However, it wasn’t long before Actos and bladder cancer began to appear in the same sentence.

Scores of Actos patients have since filed an Actos bladder cancer lawsuit.

Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, based in Australia, is leading the charge for Actos bladder cancer patients to stand up and be counted in the face of emerging Actos side effects.

“The makers of this drug have known for some time about an increased risk of bladder cancer,” Maurice Blackburn principal Damian Scattini said in comments published in The Dominion Post. “In spite of this, they have still failed to provide appropriate warnings to people and doctors in Australia and New Zealand about prolonged use in patients with type-2 diabetes.”

Interim findings of a 10-year study show that patients taking the tablets for more than 12 months had a 40 percent increased risk of bladder cancer, Scattini said. MedSafe’s Medicines Adverse Reactions Committee reviewed the safety of pioglitazone in 2011, and a warning about bladder cancer was added to the data sheet.

The Dominion Post report highlighted safety warmings issued by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, the Australian counterpart to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

According to the Sydney Morning Herald (5/21/13), tens of thousands of Australians are thought to have relied upon Actos to treat their Type 2 diabetes. Data shows that more than 1.7 million prescriptions for Actos have been filled across Australia over the last four years.