Actos Lawsuit Information
Actos drug-maker Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Asia’s biggest drug manufacturer, faces up to 10,000 lawsuits that claim Actos causes bladder cancer. Actos (pioglitazone), a prescription treatment for type-2 diabetes, recently was linked to bladder cancer and an increased risk of heart attack, congestive heart failure, heart disease. It is also linked to an increased risk of blindness, kidney damage, liver damage and bone fractures.
Prescribed to millions of individuals since its initial approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1999, Actos has since been linked to serious and debilitating side effects, including heart failure, bone fractures and, most recently, an increased risk of bladder cancer.
Actos Lawsuits
Many people who developed bladder cancer because of their treatment with Actos and other pioglitazone medications have filed legal claims against Takeda Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer of Actos, to receive compensation for medical expenses; as well as, pain and suffering.
The lawsuits allege Takeda failed to adequately warn patients of the risk of bladder cancer associated with the medication, allowing millions of patients to be put at risk of developing cancer while they received treatment for diabetes.
Legal Assistance
If you were prescribed Actos, and have experienced negative side effects because of your treatment, you may be eligible to receive compensation to cover the cost of medical expenses, pain and suffering caused by the medication. For additional information about Actos lawsuits, please call 1-800-452-0949.
In a federal court filing in September 2011, Takeda attorneys acknowledged 54 lawsuits against the company relating to Actos bladder cancer. Since, hundreds of district court lawsuits across the United States were filed against Takeda, including claims in Florida, New York, California and Ohio. Some of the plaintiffs filed lawsuits on behalf of loved ones who died from bladder cancer complications after taking Actos.
Many of the complainants allege the drug was not properly researched, patients were not warned about the cancer risks and the drug company concealed dangers of Actos. The complainants said Takeda had a vested interest to keep Actos complications secret. Many said they never would have taken the drug had they known about the Actos link to bladder cancer.
In one lawsuit, a 54-year-old woman from Reading, Pennsylvania, said she took Actos for more than a decade and was recently diagnosed with recurrent bladder cancer. With mounting medical bills, she is worried about keeping her job through multiple surgeries and chemotherapy.
In another lawsuit, a 57-year-old warehouse worker from New York faces multiple surgeries after being diagnosed with bladder cancer. He took Actos for more than five years before he was diagnosed.
“If somebody had told me I could get cancer from Actos, I never would have taken it,” the man told Bloomberg news. “There were other products out there that could have helped treat my diabetes without putting me through all of this.”
Actos Class Action Lawsuits and Litigation
Mounting 2011 legal actions against Takeda included a move toward class action lawsuits and multidistrict litigation. Since August 2011, class-action claims were filed in the U.S. District Courts in Louisiana, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, California and other states. In Louisiana, a class-action lawsuit was filed on behalf of two Actos users who developed bladder cancer. The complaint seeks to include millions who have used Actos since it was introduced.
In December 2011 all Actos lawsuits pending in federal court were consolidated into a single multidistrict litigation (MDL). The MDL avoids contradictory rulings by multiple judges, overlapping discovery processes and saves on attorney’s fees and court costs. It also helps the court system cope with an anticipated flood of lawsuits. Through an MDL, one federal judge handles all the pre-trial proceedings. Then the cases are handed back to the individual district judges for trial.
In addition to the Actos bladder cancer legal action, experts suggest there will be multiple claims that Actos caused heart attacks and strokes.
Link to Bladder Cancer
In June 2011, the FDA warned consumers and medical professionals that results of an ongoing 10-year medical study indicated that the use of Actos for longer than 12 months was associated with a 40 percent increase in the risk of developing bladder cancer in any given year.
By July 2011, health officials in France and Germany suspended the sale of Actos in their respective countries based on results of similar medical studies. Those studies suggested a significant increase in the risk of bladder cancer, especially in male patients.
The risk of developing bladder cancer increases with duration of use and with increased cumulative dose exposure to Actos. That is also true with other medications that contain the active ingredient pioglitazone, including drugs like Actoplus Met (metformin and pioglitazone), Actoplus Met XR and Duetact (glimepiride and pioglitazone).
Warning labels for pioglitazone medications were updated in August 2011 in the United States to reflect the increased risk of bladder cancer, but for some patients with diabetes the warnings may have come too late.
Actos Risks and Warnings
Updated warning labels for Actos indicate the medication should not be used in patients with active bladder cancer or in those with a history of the condition. Additionally, Actos should never be used as a preventative measure in patients with pre-diabetes.
Symptoms that may indicate the development of bladder cancer or other serious urinary tract complications include:
- Bloody urine
- Pain while urinating
- Increased urge to urinate
- Unusual back pain or abdominal pain
Compensation for Actos injuries
Actos, the world’s best-selling diabetes drug, was prescribed as an alternative to Avandia, a drug known to increase the risk of stroke, heart disease and death. The FDA reported in 2010 that more than 2 million Actos prescriptions had been written. It is also marketed under the names “Actoplus Met,” “Actoplus Met XR” and “Duetact.”
Financial compensation for injuries related to Actos bladder cancer may include the following:
- Medical expenses, including hospitalization, surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatment
- Future medical expenses
- Impact on livelihood
- Lost income and earnings
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of consortium
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional suffering
- Wrongful death
- Funeral costs
