Actos News

California Actos Bladder Cancer Lawsuits Reaches 115
Thursday, October 4, 2012

The Los Angeles based law firm of Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman, P.C., has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against drug giant Takeda Pharmaceuticals on behalf of the surviving family members of five people who allege their loved ones died from bladder cancer after taking the diabetes drug Actos (pioglitazone).

According to Baum Hedlund, the bundled complaint (case no. BC-492185) joins 115 other cases already filed in the Judicial Council Coordinated Proceedings (JCCP 4696 - In re Actos Product Liability Cases coordinated proceeding) at Los Angeles Superior Court.

The suit claims that use of the type-2 diabetes drug caused bladder cancer, pain and suffering, mental anguish, economic loss, diminished enjoyment of life, bodily impairments and eventually death.

The complaint against Actos manufacturer Takeda Pharmaceuticals and its subsidiaries (along with Eli Lilly, which collaborated with a Takeda subsidiary to market Actos) alleges that defendants knew or should have known that Actos was linked to bladder cancer in humans and had this knowledge for a over a decade and prior to filing its application in 1999.

Instead of warning plaintiffs, their physicians and the American public, Takeda and Eli Lilly “concealed and failed to completely disclose their knowledge that Actos was associated with or could cause bladder cancer or their knowledge that they had failed to fully study and test regarding that risk and, further, made conscious decisions to ignore the association between the use of Actos and pioglitazone hydrochloride and the risk of developing bladder cancer,” the complaint claims.

The complaint accuses defendants of negligence, deceit and concealment, failure to warn, and defective design, among other allegations.

Mounting scientific data over the last decade has backed up the claim linking Actos use to bladder cancer. In June 2011, a French Actos study signaled a statistically significant link between the diabetes drug and bladder cancer and led to the suspension of Actos sales in both France and Germany.

Earlier this year, an Actos safety advisory warning was issued in Canada based on evidence which revealed a potential increased risk of bladder cancer in patients treated with Actos. The US Food and Drug Administration also issued a safety advisory this year warning patients that taking Actos for over 12 months was linked to an increased risk of developing bladder cancer.

The Los Angeles law firm of Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman has successfully represented clients in over 4,000 wrongful death and personal injury cases involving pharmaceutical companies, defective drugs and dangerous medical devices. The Actos bladder cancer attorneys at Baum Hedlund are currently representing dozens of diabetes patients and their families in both state and federal courts who have developed bladder cancer after taking Actos, and the firm is preparing dozens more.