The Journal of the National Cancer Institute in August published an article showing that both Avandia and Actos increase bladder cancer by more than 400% compared to baseline incidence in diabetics. These drugs account for more than 20% of all drugs used to treat type 2 diabetes. Actos ranks 9th in the sales of all pharmaceutical drugs. This is remarkable considering it also has an increased incidence of congestive heart failure. Avandia increases the risk of heart attack by more than 50% and is also associated with 50% more deaths from heart attacks!
Germany and France have removed Actos and Avandia from the market. What is the US FDA waiting for? It looks like the FDA is doing just the opposite as it appears to approving it for over-the-counter sales when its patent runs out.
