Plaintiff Wants Actos MDL To Include Heart Failure

While a federal judge and local attorneys work to consolidate dozens of Actos bladder cancer claims in federal court, at least one new lawsuit had been filed against the much-maligned Actos maker regarding a different kind of risk.

A Texas man recently sued the Japan-based Takeda Pharmaceutical, claiming his wife died from Actos heart failure and heart attack. The man hopes to get his case included in the federal multi-district litigation (MDL) in Louisiana.

Actos Link To Bladder Cancer

Takeda has come under fire since June 2011 and is facing hundreds of complaints that the company knew that Actos caused bladder cancer, concealed the risks and sold it only to make a profit.

Actos (pioglitazone) was released to the market in 1999, even after initial studies raised red flags regarding the bladder cancer risks. The bladder-cancer lawsuits stem from a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warning that says this type-2 diabetes pill increases the risk of bladder cancer in patients taking it a year or longer. While FDA only issued a safety alert about the drug in the United States, drug regulators in German and France recalled it. Some speculate there could be hundreds of claims against Takeda.

Actos Lawsuits Consolidated Into MDL

In late 2011, 11 of the lawsuits against Takeda were combined into an MDL, which is a process that is aimed at eliminating duplicated discovery, inconsistent pretrial rulings and answer questions of fact. Once the process is over, the cases go back to the local (district) courts to be tried.

Of the initial cases under the Actos MDL umbrella, four are from New York, three from Illinois, two from Ohio and one each from California and New Jersey.

After those cases were filed, more than 90 more cases were transferred to the MDL from states that include Pennsylvania, Alabama, Kentucky and Florida.

Each Actos lawsuit alleges that Actos increases the risk of developing bladder cancer, the drug company knew of the risks and the company didn’t adequately warn the community.

The presiding federal judge, Rebecca Doherty in Louisiana, said initial status conference would be held on March 22. From there, there will be monthly status conferences.

Actos And Heart Failure

Even though the MDL cases involve bladder cancer patients, the newest allegation involves another strong Actos risk: heart failure. In 2011, the Actos packaging started carrying a black-box warning for congestive heart failure.

In the latest complaint, a Texas man said his wife started taking Actos in March 2006 to treat her type-2 diabetes. She took it through November 2009. On June 30, 2011, she suffered from congestive heart failure and heart attack, which caused her death. Her family believes her death was a result of her Actos use.