S. Korea raises safety concerns over ingredients used for diabetes, prostate drugs

South Korea's drug safety watchdog issued a warning Monday against the use of some ingredients needed to produce drugs that treat diabetes and a prostate illness following safety concerns being raised in other nations. Pioglitazone, used in making diabetes drugs, along with finasteride and dutasteride, both used in making medicines for an enlarged prostate gland, were subject to the warning, according to the Korea Food and Drug Administration. The warning is designed to ask medical experts and consumers here to take extra cautions in choosing drugs that contain such ingredients when treating the aforementioned ailments. The move came after France's drug safety watchdog recently announced that patients treated with drugs containing pioglitazone were more likely to develop bladder cancer. The Food and Drug Administration of the U.S. also found that patients with an enlarged prostate gland see increased chances of getting prostate cancer when treated with drugs containing finasteride and dutasteride. South Korea sells 102 drugs that contain pioglitazone in its domestic market, while selling 101 drugs containing finasteride and dutasteride, which are also used in treating hair loss, according to industry experts.