Victims of harmful effects of Actos can receive help from Houston law firm.
HOUSTON, TX—Sullo & Sullo, LLP, a law firm providing litigation support for those who have had their health compromised through the use of drugs which were presumed to be safe, is providing counsel and advice to those who have a valid Actos-related claim.
Actos, a drug prescribed for Type 2 diabetes, works by reducing insulin resistance and lowering the amount of glucose in the bloodstream. Manufactured by Takeda Pharmaceuticals, a Japanese drug company, Actos has been widely prescribed since its introduction in 1999. Although initial reports led prescribing physicians and patients to believe it did not bring the same health concerns of its competitor-drug, Avandia, new research suggests otherwise.
Sales of the drug reached a staggering 4.8 billion in 2010 making it the tenth best-selling drug in the U.S., bringing in over a quarter of Takeda’s annual revenues. In 2007 the FDA mandated black box warnings be placed on Actos to let users know of its potential to increase the risk of heart failure. More recently, studies have shown a strong correlation between the use of Actos and the incidence of bladder cancer. Because of the latest research Germany, France and New Zealand have either recalled the drug or severely limited potential new prescriptions. The FDA has adopted a wait-and-see attitude, stating that while it will issue warnings regarding the link between Actos and bladder cancer it will not recall the drug until further research is in.
In the largest study which lasted ten years and followed over a million patients taking Actos there was no statistically significant overall risk of bladder cancer, however for those patients who took the drug for longer than twelve months or in higher dosages, the risk increased by as much as 42%. In response to the growing number of patients who have developed serious health consequences from taking Actos, Managing Partner, Andrew Sullo asserts “Pharmaceutical drugs can provide benefits to their users, but in certain instances they can cause harm to their users as well. When you see large numbers of people who all took the same medication begin to experience similar serious detrimental side effects, it’s not difficult to conclude that something went wrong somewhere.”
The goal of the attorneys at Sullo and Sullo, LLP is to protect individual’s claims while determining the validity of every potential case. Because the law limits the amount of time claimants have to file Actos lawsuits, injured parties should be aware that should they miss those deadlines they permanently relinquish their right to bring suit.
Managing Partner Andrew Sullo concluded: “Ultimately we are trying to find people who were hurt by this drug because we may be able to help them, and that is the end goal.”