Actos Side Effects Lawsuits Continue in Waves

New York, NYLawsuits over Actos side effects have continued to pop up in recent months after warnings have come in from around the world indicating that taking the diabetes drug could lead to an increased risk of bladder cancer and other potential health problems.

According to a number of published reports, many of these Actos lawsuits have been filed in the states of New York and New Jersey. The suits, targeting Japanese drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceuticals Company, typically claim that side effects occurred after the patients took the drugs for an extended period of time, reports indicate.

The wave of lawsuits follows months of studies that have come out in many parts of the world suggesting that the type 2 diabetes medication could cause more problems than most patients were aware of. Additionally, the warnings about the medication come after another diabetes drug, Avandia, was removed from pharmacy shelves in the US in May amid reports that it caused an increased risk of heart attacks for patients.

Once Avandia was pulled from the market, Actos took center stage in terms of diabetes drug sales, but this spike didn't last long when French studies appeared earlier this year highlighting the increased risk of bladder cancer associated with the medication. The studies also reportedly found that the risk heightened the longer the patient took the drug, according to published reports.

While the bladder cancer risk was undoubtedly the most prevalent and concerning issue related to Actos, other reports have come out since the French studies indicating that the medication may pose other health risks as well.

A previous study presented at the American Diabetes Association's annual meeting earlier this year, for instance, showed that both Actos and Avandia have been linked to an increased risk of an eye disease that can eventually cause blindness.

According to Bloomberg, the study determined that patients taking the diabetes drugs were three to six times more likely to develop diabetic macular edema (DME), which reportedly causes swelling and thickening of the retina.

These studies, coupled with warnings given by the US Food and Drug Administration as well as the European Medicines Agency (EMA), many Actos patients have decided to initiate lawsuits against Takeda, claiming that the company is responsible for the debilitating side effects they suffered after taking the medication.