Popular Diabetes Drug Actos Banned in India
New York, New York (PRWEB) July 09, 2013 -- The blockbuster diabetes drug Actos (pioglitazone) has been banned in India according to a June 27 news report in The Times of India. Along with the Actos ban, the government has also suspended sales of pain-killer Analgin and anti-depressant Deanxit. The announcement reveals the Indian health ministry’s commitment to prohibit the sale of medicines based on allegations of adverse side effects.
“Ever since the FDA issued its safety announcement in June of 2011 that Actos may be linked with bladder cancer, we have carefully monitored the adverse event reports received by the agency. We support India's decision to ban Actos within their country, “ said Charles Balkin, the founding partner of Balkin & Eisbrouch, LLC, a national law firm that represents clients who have been injured by dangerous drugs.
As reported in The Times of India, India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has banned the manufacture and distribution of Actos, Deanxit and Analgin under Section 26A of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, effective immediately within India. The government’s decision to stop sales pioglitazone and its various combinations will not only impact drug maker Takeda Pharmaceuticals, but several Indian pharmaceutical companies, including Lupin, Sun Pharma, Abott, Wockhardt, and Ranbaxy Laboratories.
An insulin-sensitizing medication prescribed to Type 2 diabetics, Actos has been mired in controversy in markets worldwide. As reported by CBS News June 10, 2011, the popular diabetes drug was pulled off shelves in both France and Germany in 2011 due research that revealed a possible increased risk of bladder cancer among Actos patients as high as 22 percent. Actos is still prescribed in the United States, though it comes with a warning that cautions of a possible heightened risk of bladder cancer risk when taken for more than one year. It also contains a black box warning, the FDA's strictest warning, about the potential link of Actos with heart failure.
Other medications in the same family known as 'glitazones' have been recalled or banned in countries worldwide, as was the case with rosiglitazone, which was banned three years ago in Europe and India. For some Indian drug manufacturers who will suffer a huge loss in revenues, the recent decision to ban Actos and its pioglitazone derivatives is strongly opposed. According to a July 3 article in the Business Standard, the industry is demanding a review and may consider challenging the ban if scientific data supporting the action is not provided.
With litigation over Actos-related bladder cancer escalating in the United States (IN RE: Actos (Pioglitazone) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2299), some have called for a stateside recall on the drug though no such plans have been announced by the drugmaker. Allegations raised in lawsuits against Takeda in the U.S. claim that the manufacturer designed and sold a defective product with full knowledge of its dangerous side effects and causal link to cancer. To date, Takeda has denied any such claims.
“Compensation awarded as a result of a successful Actos lawsuit can help victims recover damages for past and future medical expenses, lost income, pain, suffering and other losses," explains co-founding partner David Eisbrouch. As litigation against Actos maker Takeda Pharmaceuticals continues to escalate in the United States, so does the commitment of Balkin & Eisbrouch, LLC to help individuals who believe they developed bladder cancer or experienced other adverse side effects as result of Actos treatment. Their law offices offer confidential case reviews to individuals who took the medication and were diagnosed with bladder cancer or heart problems.
About Balkin & Eisbrouch
Balkin & Eisbrouch, LLC is a nationally-renowned products liability law firm with more than four decades of experience representing victims who suffered harm from dangerous drugs and defective medical devices. Helpful information concerning Actos side effects as well as various options regarding legal recourse is available on their comprehensive website. The firm is currently accepting new cases involving bladder cancer and Actos and offers complimentary lawsuit evaluations for patients nationwide.
Contact
Balkin & Eisbrouch, LLC
126 East 56th Street
New York, NY 10026
Tel: 855.888.2529
http://injurylawyer-news.com/
Related Links
http://injurylawyer-news.com/actos/
Andrew Orlander, Balkin & Eisbrouch, LLC, http://injurylawyer-news.com/, +1 9142410371, [email protected]
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