Actos Dean Law Firm Attorneys Houston Texas

Actos

U.S. Lawmakers Call for Drug Companies to Report Payments to Doctors
Posted by: Christopher Dean
January 19, 2012

The Obama Administration, in an attempt to prevent medical conflicts of interest, is ready to make drug companies divulge how they make payments to doctors. Research into this problem area has revealed that benefits such as travel, entertainment, or food, can impact a doctor's decision on which treatment he/she uses. This has led to an increase in the use of expensive drugs and medical equipment which forces patients to spend more.

The Houston Chronicle states that Consumer Advocates and members of Congress are encouraging the new legislation as it will increase the likelihood that doctors will act in the best interest of their patients and not for their own financial gain. There are a large number of doctors that accept perks from drug companies. A quarter of doctors take cash payment while up to two-thirds receive a routine gift of food.

The Obama Administration believes that great amounts of data will be produce when these companies begin to make their reports. The federal government will then post this data to a website. If the drug companies and medical device manufacturers fail to report a payment, they may be subject to a $10,000 fine.

Attorney James Christopher Dean has been around medicine all of his life. Chris comes from a family of doctors and has extensive knowledge of medical issues. Healthcare professionals refer their patients to Chris because of Chris' grasp of medical and legal issues. If you or a loved one has experienced bladder cancer symptoms, blood in urine, a change in urine color, frequent urination, painful urination or urinary tract infections during or after taking Actos ®, Actoplus Met ®, Actoplus Met XR ®, or Duetact ®, you need help to contact someone with the skill, knowledge, passion and drive you or your loved one deserves. Do not hesitate. Symptoms are known to increase while taking Actos. Contact the Dean Law Firm today for a free consultation and report, 1-855-280-8900.

Multi-District Litigation Actos
Posted by: Christopher Dean
January 10, 2012

On December 29, 2011, the United States Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation (MDL) decided that all federal Actos cases would be consolidated and centralized in the Western District of Louisiana. The Panel determined that the Honorable Rebecca F. Doherty would be overseeing the multi-district litigation (MDL).

The decision followed a meeting of the Panel on December 1, 2011. The panel heard arguments to determine if an MDL would be appropriate for the numerous Actos cases that stretch from coast to coast. Actos cases have been increasing with the news that the diabetes drug can increase risk of bladder cancer.

Attorney James Christopher Dean has been around medicine all of his life. Chris comes from a family of doctors and has extensive knowledge of medical issues. Healthcare professionals refer their patients to Chris because of Chris' grasp of medical and legal issues. If you or a loved one has experienced bladder cancer symptoms, blood in urine, a change in urine color, frequent urination, painful urination or urinary tract infections during or after taking Actos ®, Actoplus Met ®, Actoplus Met XR ®, or Duetact ®, you need help to contact someone with the skill, knowledge, passion and drive you or your loved one deserves. Do not hesitate. Symptoms are known to increase while taking Actos. Contact the Dean Law Firm today for a free consultation and report, 1-855-280-8900.

Actos Update
Posted by: Christopher Dean
November 25, 2011

Actos is a drug designed by Takeda Pharmaceuticals to improve blood sugar or glucose control and the amount of good cholesterol and blood fats for adults with type 2 diabetes.

Since Actos' release into the market, it has been discovered that patients taking the drug experienced side effects of: increased risk of heart attack, bladder cancer, and other health problems including death. Research has shown the longer the medication is taken, the higher the risk of suffering from one of these conditions. In fact, studies conducted with over 193,099 people taking Actos were found to have an increased risk of cancer as high as 40%. The FDA in September of 2010 confirmed these risks and has called for further review and reevaluation of Actos along with updated warnings. Health officials in Europe, including France and Germany, have decided to completely suspend the sale of Actos and issued country-wide recalls on the drug.

The most alarming report, however, revealed that one fifth of all reports involving bladder cancer were patients on Actos. Clearly, the risks of Actos outweigh its benefits thus spurning lawsuits enabling people harmed by the drug to obtain adequate compensation.

Medicines are meant to make the patient better. Medicines are meant to heal the body. Medicines are NOT meant to make the patient worse. James Christopher Dean says, "When you retain our services, we will launch an independent investigation into the matter. Consulting with skilled experts, such as toxicologists and doctors, we will seek to determine the cause of the defect and work diligently to hold negligent manufacturers responsible."

Attorney James Christopher Dean has been around medicine all of his life. Chris comes from a family of doctors and has extensive knowledge of medical issues. Healthcare professionals refer their patients to Chris because of Chris' grasp of medical and legal issues. If you or a loved one has experienced bladder cancer symptoms, blood in urine, a change in urine color, frequent urination, painful urination or urinary tract infections during or after taking Actos ®, Actoplus Met ®, Actoplus Met XR ®, or Duetact ®, you need help to contact someone with the skill, knowledge, passion and drive you or your loved one deserves. Do not hesitate. Symptoms are known to increase while taking Actos. Contact the Dean Law Firm today for a free consultation and report, 1-855-280-8900.

According to recent statistics, approximately 30 million Americans have been diagnosed with diabetes and close to 79 million are pre-diabetic. It is a lesser-known fact that between 2004 and 2009, more than 500,000 adverse reactions among people taking anti-diabetic drugs were added to an official U.S. Food and Drug Administration database. James Christopher Dean, an experienced defective drug Attorney, has released a new Actos website, www.LawyerforActos.com, with his concern of patients taking pioglitazone (Actos) for more than a year. These patients will have an increased risk of bladder cancer, according to an FDA interim review of an ongoing epidemiological study. The active ingredient in Actos® is also contained in other drugs, named Actoplus Met®, Actoplus Met XR®, and Duetact®. Although Actos® continues to cause bladder cancer, it is still sold in the United States. Actos® is under a long-term investigational study by the FDA.

James Christopher Dean says,"We should never tolerate a drug where cancer is a potential side effect. No benefit of any drug is worth that. We should have been warned."

In September 2010, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began a safety review of Actos®.
The FDA Safety Announcement says "Actos is used along with diet and exercise to control blood sugar or improve control of blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Bladder cancer is estimated to occur in 20 per 100,000 persons per year in the United States and is thought to be higher in diabetics.1 The drug manufacturer, Takeda, has conducted a planned analysis of the study data at the five-year mark, and submitted their results to FDA. Overall, there was no statistically significant association between Actos exposure and bladder cancer risk. However, further analyses were also performed looking at how long patients were on Actos and the total amount of the drug they received during that time. An increased risk of bladder cancer was observed among patients with the longest exposure to Actos, as well as in those exposed to the highest cumulative dose of Actos. "

Intermediate analysis of a proposed 10-year clinical trial involving the popular anti diabetic drug, Actos, has shown significantly increased incidence of bladder cancer among patients taking the drug. The increased risk was noted when Actos was used for more than one year and this study involves 193,099 patients with diabetes. The study is still underway and the manufacturers, Takeda pharmaceuticals, insist on completing 10-year analysis.

Avandia and Actos are similar drugs, and are members of same anti-diabetic drug family which was first introduced in the 1990s. Reports that Avandia increased the number and risk of heart attacks initiated a thorough review in this class of drugs. Actos was also recently found to increase the risk of congestive heart failure. In this particular article, the FDA has warned people taking Actos that if they are taking this for more than a year; they might be at an additional risk of developing bladder cancer. In 2010, the manufacturers reported that people taking Actos for the longest time and for the maximum dose may develop bladder cancer in the long run. However the current review suggests that even one year of Actos use considerably increases the risk of developing bladder cancer.

In June 2011, Suspension of use of these medicines in France while Europe-wide review continues
outside of the above-mentioned study, the FDA estimates that 2.3 million Americans who were prescribed Actos from January through October 2010 will also be at an increased risk, in addition to those who are already taking this drug. Imagine the number of increased cases of bladder cancer.

It is not suprising that two months ago the FDA has issued a warning of elevated risk to patients who have been taking Actos®. The updated drug labels recommend that healthcare professionals should not use pioglitazone in patients with active bladder cancer and use pioglitazone with caution in patients with a prior history of bladder cancer. The updated drug labels also recommends that patients should contact their healthcare professional if they experience any sign of blood in the urine or a red color in the urine or other symptoms such as new or worsening urinary urgency or pain on urination since starting pioglitazone, as these may be due to bladder cancer.

James Christopher Dean says, "When you retain our services, we will launch an independent investigation into the matter. Consulting with skilled experts, such as toxicologists and doctors, we will seek to determine the cause of the defect and then work diligently to hold the negligent manufacturer responsible." Attorney James Christopher Dean has been around medicine all of his life. He comes from a family of doctors. He has extensive knowledge of medical issues. Health care professionals often refer their patients to him because they trust his grasp of medical/legal issues. If you or a loved one have experienced bladder cancer symptoms, blood in urine, sometimes creating a change in urine color, frequent urination, painful urination, or urinary tract infections during or after taking Actos®, Actoplus Met®, Actoplus Met XR®, or Duetact®, you need help to get the settlement you deserve. Do not hesitate, symptoms are known to increase while taking the drug, contact the Dean Law Firm Actos® lawyers today at 1-888-542-7060.