Dr. Albert Levy Weighs In: “FDA Warns of Bladder Cancer Risk With Actos”
Patients taking pioglitazone (Actos) for more than a year may have an increased risk of bladder cancer, according to an FDA interim review of an ongoing epidemiological study. Pioglitazone is now the second medication in the thiazolidinedione (TZD) class to be associated with serious side effects within the past year. Some researchers suspect that this may prompt physicians to back away from prescribing the class at all. "I will ask my patients on Actos to consider dropping it and give them an alternative," Albert Levy, MD, of Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, said.