A warning is to be added to the pharmaceutical labels of a certain type of diabetes medication following a review into its effectiveness.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) carried out a study into pioglitazone-containing medicines after claims that he drug could increase the cancer risk among patients.

Now, the manufacturer Takeda has been advised to change the pharma labels of its products to reflect the fact that they may increase the likelihood of developing bladder cancer.

The EMA concluded that although there is a slight rise in risk, the benefits of the ingredient pioglitazone outweigh this for diabetes sufferers.

It was recommended that doctors prescribing pioglitazone-containing medicines should carry out regular reviews on patients in order to look out for side-effects.

This comes after the US Food and Drug Administration told AstraZeneca it must add a warning to the packaging of common anti-psychotic drug Seroquel due to a potential risk of heart arrhythmia.

Denny Bros Ltd, 26 July 2011