Actos Bladder Cancer Risk: What do Patients Think?

June 6, 2012 - PRLog -- The recent news of Actos's increased Bladder Cancer Risk has gotten everybody talking about the increased risk of using Actos. Endocrinologists and Physicians have told us that patients come to their offices with concerns about the increased bladder cancer risk & they want to know what patients are thinking about this issue.

PharmaFlare (http://www.pharmaflare.com) through its comprehensive patient, market & competitive intelligence tracks patient views on leading topics that concern physicians, patients, pharmaceutical firms & other stakeholders in the healthcare industry. Please email info@pharmaflare.com if you want access to this or our other research notes.

Our brief research note on patient viewpoints on the Actos- Bladder Cancer Risk includes:

•   Representative sample views of patients using Actos AND concerned about Bladder cancer
•   Percentage of patients & sample views on why they are sticking with Actos despite the added bladder cancer risks in the media
•   Percentage of patients & sample views on why they are switching away from Actos because of bladder cancer risk and other issues
•   Percentage of patients & sample views on why despite the higher efficacy they are moving away from Actos because of the media reports
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Example Patient View & their interaction with physicians on the Actos- Bladder Cancer risk:
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I discussed the bladder cancer issue with my endocrinologist. He said there were some shoddy tests done in France and he was not impressed at all. He also claimed that according to these tests, there was only a fractional (minute) increase of getting bladder cancer. I then did my own research and found that additional testing was done here in the U.S. and they claimed a 40% increase in the chance of getting bladder cancer under certain conditions. Apparently the FDA felt compelled enough to issue warnings. It definitely helped with my bg in a big way, but I don't feel it's worth the risk. It is a personal decision to be determined by you and your doctor.
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Example Patient View on Actos & Bladder Cancer risk:
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One thing I have learned is to not blame myself as the disease progresses. My body is making less and less insulin and the resistance is increasing. At first when a new drug would be added I had a great sense of failure. I have since gotten over that. I've been on insulin, Byetta, and unfortunately Actos - which caused my bladder cancer. When I am ill or when the cancer is growing, my blood sugars are ridiculous. I currently take Victoza, metformin and glipizide. The combination seems to be working for now.