actos -

August 24, 2011 By Dr. G. Pepper

Diabetes Medications, One Old and One New, Run into Trouble

A potential new treatment for type 2 diabetes, dapagliflozin, recently failed to gain approval from the FDA. What makes this rejection noteworthy is that the new medication works by a completely new mechanism causing the kidney to excrete sugar from the blood into the urine. Reasons for the rejection were the increased risk of bladde [...]

July 6, 2011 By Dr. G. Pepper

Avandia Law Suit Brings Out the Opportunists

The lawsuits against Avandia are being prepared and opportunists are lining up for a payday. Unfortunately, everyone else will wind up a loser, and here’s why. Avandia, one of only two available medicines with unique properties to treat diabetes, was approved in 1999. From the very first day Avandia was approved a heated debate arose [...]

March 27, 2011 By Dr. G. Pepper

Can Actos Really Prevent Type 2 Diabetes?

Diagnosing diabetes is simple. If the blood sugar is found to be elevated you are diabetic. Increasing or decreasing the cut off level between normal and diabetic will dramatically change the number of people diagnosed with diabetes. In 1997 the American Diabetes Association lowered the criterion of diabetes (type 2) to a fasting blood sugar [...]

May 18, 2010 By Dr. G. Pepper

Common Liver Disease Responds to Vitamin E

Vitamin E May Be of Help in Common Liver Disease: Over the years the medicinal qualities of vitamin E have been both praised and criticized. For decades there has been a debate whether this vitamin could prevent cancer or heart disease. Large studies have pretty much determined that cancer and heart disease don’t respond to [...]

February 23, 2010 By Dr. G. Pepper

Old, Old News About Diabetes Medicine Danger Makes Headlines Again

In 2007 I published an article entitled, “Old News About Avandia and Actos Makes Front Page New York Times”. This article criticized the media for publishing an old story about the potential danger of Avandia, then a popular diabetes medication. Even in 2007 the potential hazard of Avandia was a story which had been beaten [...]

January 18, 2010 By Dr. G. Pepper

New Diabetes Treatment Guidelines Flawed

New Diabetes Treatment Guidelines Lack Credibility: Recently the American Academy of Clinical Endocrinologists issued new treatment guidelines for treating Type 2 Diabetes. Complex medical guidelines are often referred to as a treatment algorithm. One of the stated goals of the AACE algorithm is to focus primarily on the theoretical ability of the diabetic medications to [...]

August 23, 2008 By Gary Pepper M.D.

Actos, the Latest of the Diabetes Fighters

Actos, released this summer by Lilly and Co. in collaboration with Takeada Pharmaceuticals, is the latest of the oral agents for treatment of diabetes. Actos whose chemical name is pioglitazone, is part of the new class of diabetes fighting drugs called “glitazones”. Other drugs in this class are Rezulin(Parke Davis/Sankyo) and Avandia (Bristol Myers Squibb). [...]

June 7, 2007 By Gary Pepper M.D.

Old News About Avandia and Actos Makes the Front Page NY Times

Today’s NY Times carries a front page article about the dangers of Actos and Avandia, two popular diabetes medications. The reason behind the news story is that the FDA has finally required the two companies that make these diabetes drugs to carry a “black box” warning (the strongest labeling warning that can be applied) about [...]