• 03
  • February
    2012

The act of taking medication is rarely, if ever, a risk-free occurrence. From baby aspirin to intense cancer drugs, medications come with a list of warnings designed to educate patients about the substance they are about to put on or in their bodies.

While medications can often be considered dangerous drugs, the benefits that these medications offer may outweigh their risks and side effects. It is the responsibility of patients and physicians to weigh these benefits and risks when constructing a care plan.

However, misleading, false or incomplete warning information can leave both patients and physicians unaware of the risks they are dealing with. Recently, a suit was filed alleging that incomplete warning information for the drug Actos caused a Midwestern man to develop bladder cancer. The suit highlights the reality that patients and healthcare providers have a right to complete information about a drug before choosing to prescribe it.

The suit was filed against Takeda Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly, manufacturers of Actos. It alleges that the manufacturers were aware that patient exposure to Actos for more than a year increases one's risk of developing bladder cancer, but hid this information in order to maintain FDA approval for the drug.

The bladder-cancer link was not added to the Actos warning label until last summer, after an FDA investigation uncovered it.

Actos allegedly accounts for more than a quarter of the companies' revenue. The suit insists that the companies were inclined to both withhold the information and to deny its validity once exposed, due to monetary interests in the drug.

The Midwestern man may or may not have chosen to take Actos, had he been aware of the risks. However, the lack of complete information about the risks associated with it did not allow him to exercise his power as a consumer. This case will undoubtedly be watched closely, given how many patients were exposed to Actos before the cancer link became known.

Source: The Madison-St. Clair Record, "Edwardsville man sues Takeda, Eli Lilly over Actos," Andrea Dearden, Jan. 19, 2012