Actoplus Met is a prescription medication used with diet and exercise to improve blood sugar (glucose) control in adults who have Type-2 Diabetes mellitus. It contains a combination of pioglitazone and metformin, which increases the body’s sensitivity to insulin. Unfortunately, the FDA has recently warned that people who take pioglitazone (an ingredient also found in Actos, Actoplus Met XR, and Duetact) for more than one year may have a higher risk of bladder cancer.
What You Can Do & How an Actoplus Met Lawsuit Can Help
The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is currently accepting Actoplus Met induced injury cases in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know has been injured by Actoplus Met, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Actoplus Met Litigation Group or call us toll-free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.
$9 Billion Award in Louisiana Actos Bladder Cancer Lawsuit
April 8, 2014 – In the seventh-largest jury verdict in U.S. history, Takeda and Eli Lilly have been ordered to pay $9 billion in punitive damages for failing to warn about the risk of bladder cancer. Judge Rebecca Doherty, who also oversees more than 2,700 Actos lawsuits, penalized the companies for destroying thousands of documents on over 40 employees involved in development and sales of Actos. Click here to read more.
Actoplus Met Overview
Actoplus Met is a medication used to treat Type-2 Diabetes. It is an oral tablet medication created by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, Asia’s largest drug-maker. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Actoplus Met in August 2005. It belongs to a class of medications known as thiazolidinediones or TZDs, which increase the body’s sensitivity to insulin.
Insulin is a natural hormone created by the pancreas, which triggers the cells in the liver, muscle, and fat tissue to take up glucose (sugar) from the blood, and stop using fat as an energy source. People with Type-2 Diabetes have insulin resistance, causing the body to not use the insulin it produces. Around 40% of people with Type-2 Diabetes need injections of insulin to manage their disease.
Actoplus Met contains Actos (pioglitazone), a TZD medication that directly targets the body’s resistance to insulin, plus metformin, a medication that works by reducing the amount of glucose created by the liver. Metformin also helps control the amount of glucose (sugar) in a the blood by decreasing the amount of glucose that can be absorbed from food. In combination, these two drugs help a person’s body regulate their blood-sugar level.
Actoplus Met and Bladder Cancer
The problem with Actoplus Met is that it contains Actos (pioglitazone), which has recently been linked to a 40% increased risk of bladder cancer. The data was based on five-year results from a ten-year study conducted by Takeda Pharmaceuticals. Based on data from 200,000 people taking Actos, preliminary data showed that people who had been taking Actos for at least one year had a higher risk of bladder cancer.
This was not the only study that found a link between Actos and bladder cancer. A French study analyzed bladder cancer rates among 155,000 Actos patients between 2006 and 2009, compared with bladder cancer rates among 1.3 million non-Actos users. Of all people taking Actos, they were 1.2-times more likely to develop bladder cancer. Of people who had been taking Actos for at least two years, they were 1.4-times more likely to develop bladder cancer. In response, France and Germany banned sales of Actos.
The U.S. FDA also took action. The administration issued a Drug Safety Communication in June 2011, stating:
“Compared to never being exposed to pioglitazone, a duration of pioglitazone therapy longer than 12 months was associated with a 40% increase in risk . . . Based upon this data, FDA calculated that duration of therapy longer than 12 months was associated with 27.5 excess cases of bladder cancer per 100,000 person-years follow-up, compared to never using pioglitazone.”
Takeda Faces Thousands of Actoplus Met Lawsuits
If you suffered a sever side effect after taking Actoplus Met, you are not alone. Takeda Pharmaceuticals, the drug company responsible for Actoplus Met, may face 10,000 Actoplus Met lawsuits for injuries such as bladder cancer. Even now, the litigation is moving forward. As the company faces thousands of lawsuits brought by people all over the United States, a judicial panel has decided that the impending litigation will be centralized in the Western District of Louisiana, before U.S. Federal Judge Rebecca Doherty.
If your bladder cancer or other serious injury was caused by Actoplus Met, you have a limited amount of time to file a lawsuit against the company responsible for injuries caused by their medication. Contact an Actoplus Met lawyer at The Schmidt Firm, PLLC as soon as possible.
Bladder Cancer
Bladder Cancer is a cancer of the bladder, which is an organ in the body that holds and releases urine. Like all cancers, bladder cancer is potentially life-threatening. It begins in the “transitional cells” in the lining of the bladder, and it can progress to the muscle around the bladder. Usually it is diagnosed at this point, because the person suffers blood in the urine or other uncomfortable symptoms. Treatment involves surgery to physically remove cancerous tissue and chemotherapy. There is also a novel immuno-therapy, the Bacille Calmette-Guerin vaccine, which can be injected directly into the bladder and triggers the immune system to attack cancerous tissue. If the bladder cancer extends beyond the muscle surrounding the bladder, it can easily “metastasize,” moving into surrounding tissue and organs in the body. At this point, patients are rarely cured.
Studies have estimated that there are around 30 extra people who develop bladder cancer per 100,000 people who take Actoplus Met. Millions of people use a medication containing Actos to treat Type-2 diabetes, which means there could be hundreds or thousands of extra cases of bladder cancer linked to this medication.
Actoplus Met Side Effects
Serious Actoplus Met side effects include, but are not limited to:
- Bladder cancer
- Heart attack
- Bone fractures
- Stroke
- Liver problems
- Fluid retention
- Weight gain
- Macular Edema
- Congestive Heart failure
Metformin can also cause a life-threatening condition known as lactic acidosis, in which lactic acid builds up in the bloodstream faster than the body cam remove it. The safety warnings on the label of Actoplus Met already warn of this condition, which is why doctors recommend that new patients should have their blood-electrolyte levels checked 1-2 weeks after beginning Actoplus Met.
Do I have a Actoplus Met Lawsuit?
The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is currently accepting Actoplus Met induced injury cases in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know has been injured by Actoplus Met, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Actoplus Met Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.
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