Diabetes drug Actos linked to pancreatic cancer

Actos “safety study” proves the drug could cause cancer instead

It’s one of the deadliest drugs in America. And it just got a little deadlier.

If you or a loved one was ever taking the diabetes med Actos (pioglitazone), I hope your doctor got you off of it years ago.

And if he didn’t, it’s time for a second opinion.

It feels like just about every day we hear about another case of bladder cancer linked to Actos. And there are class-action lawsuits going on right now all across the country.

But it turns out there may be far more Actos victims than we ever imagined. I’m talking about people who may have died from taking the drug without ever realizing it.

And you’ll never believe who discovered this disturbing news.

A new study funded by Takeda Pharmaceuticals — which makes Actos — analyzed the medical records of 236,000 diabetes patients. And researchers found that patients taking Actos were 40 percent more likely to develop pancreatic cancer.

You’d better believe that when it ponied up the cash for this research, Takeda wasn’t expecting it would link their drug to a cancer so serious that its five-year survival rate is a measly 6 percent.

But it serves Takeda right. They were funding the study trying to prove that Actos doesn’t cause bladder cancer, even though everyone in health care… including Takeda… knows that ship sailed a long time ago.

A 10-year study found Actos could increase your bladder cancer risk by two to three times. And Takeda and Eli Lilly — which was originally involved in the marketing of Actos — have even set aside $2.4 billion to cover all the lawsuits from bladder cancer patients.

And it doesn’t take a genius to figure out they’re likely not writing all those checks because they honestly believe the drug is safe.

Of course the researchers behind the new study — who, again, were funded by Takeda — aren’t ready to claim Actos actually causes pancreatic cancer. But how much smoke do you have to see before someone finally admits there’s a fire?

The FDA should have followed the lead of countries like France and Germany and banned Actos years ago. And lots of these prescription diabetes meds are dangerous and unnecessary anyway.

One major study found that the natural supplement berberine controls blood sugar just as well as the popular drug metformin — and much more safely.

I use supplements like berberine in my own practice, and recommend my patients stick to a Paleo Diet — rich in fresh meats and vegetables — which also helps avoid blood sugar spikes.

And the best thing about these safe, natural cures is that you never need to worry which skeletons are going to crawl out of the closet next.

Sources:

Study refutes notion that diabetes drug Actos raises bladder cancer

(nlm.nih.gov)