Another Claim Added to Actos Bladder Malignancy MDL. A North Carolina man is the latest to claim that taking the popular type 2 diabetes drug Actos led to his bladder cancer diagnosis. He is being represented in his lawsuit by the national law firm of Parker Waichman LLP. The firm represents a growing number of […]
Another Claim Added to Actos Bladder Malignancy MDL. A North Carolina man is the latest to claim that taking the popular type 2 diabetes drug Actos led to his bladder cancer diagnosis.
He is being represented in his lawsuit by the national law firm of Parker Waichman LLP. The firm represents a growing number of Actos-related bladder cancer victims and its founding partner, Jerrold S. Parker, was named to serve on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in a federal Multidistrict Litigation filed against the makers of the drug. This latest lawsuit was combined with those other lawsuits in Re: Actos (Pioglitazone) Products Liability Litigation (MDL No. 6:11-md-2299).
This lawsuit and the MDL are filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. The lawsuits claim that Takeda Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly & Co. knowingly hid evidence that showed taking this particular diabetes drug – especially at high doses or for a prolonged period of time – could lead to bladder cancer.
The complaint joins other and a growing number of similar lawsuits all making similar claims. MDL are approved by a federal judicial panel and combine lawsuits which make like claims. The process streamlines the pre-trial process and decides on matters of admission of evidence, approved witnesses, and other matters that could be used as grounds for appeal after a decision has been reached. The MDL process aims to eliminate the basis for any appeals.
In the Actos MDL, Takeda Pharmaceuticals America, Inc., Takeda Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. f/k/a Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America. Inc., Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited and Eli Lilly and Company have been named as Defendants.
The North Carolina man says he was prescribed Actos in 2002 and after taking the drug for a short while, he developed bladder cancer. He believes that Takeda was aware of the risk of bladder cancer associated with the drug but failed to inform the public of this risk in favor of higher sales for more than a decade.
Revenues generated from Actos sales have boosted since the previous top-selling diabetes drug, Avandia, was essentially removed from the market by the Food and Drug Administration due to its link to several life-threatening side effects like heart attack and stroke.
Actos was formally approved by the FDA in July 1999 but it was not until last year that the agency first informed the public of this dangerous side effect risk. The FDA formally added a Black Box warning to Actos safety information that notes taking the drug for more than a year can increase the risk of suffering bladder cancer, a life-threatening disease.
A recent study showed that taking Actos over another type 2 diabetes medication could increase a person’s risk of developing bladder cancer by 22 percent.
The personal injury attorneys at Parker Waichman LLP offer free, no-obligation case evaluations. For more information, fill out our online contact form or call 1-800-YOURLAWYER (1-800-968-7529).
