Actos News

Baum Hedlund Files Federal Personal Injury Claims on Behalf
of Twenty Actos Bladder Cancer Plaintiffs
Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Lafayette, Louisiana – Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman has filed a federal Actos bladder cancer bundled complaint on behalf of 20 plaintiffs against drug giant Takeda Pharmaceuticals, its subsidiaries and Eli Lilly, which launched Actos along with Takeda in 1999. These personal injury claims allege that the Type 2 diabetes drug Actos caused bladder cancer.

The lawsuit (case no. 6:12-cv-02447), will join more than a thousand similar Actos bladder cancer lawsuits which have been consolidated in multi-district litigation (MDL No. 6:11-md-2299) before U.S. District Judge Rebecca Doherty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Louisiana.  Over one thousand cases are now on file in the Actos MDL (In Re: Actos (Pioglitazone) Products Liability Litigation), according to court records.

The complaint alleges that defendants were aware of a link between Actos (pioglitazone) and bladder cancer for over a decade, and yet continued to promote the drug as if it were safe and effective. Furthermore, Takeda and the other defendants in this case willfully and wantonly misled the plaintiffs, the health care community, and patients using Actos around the world.

The 20 individuals are seeking compensatory damages from the defendants for personal injuries that occurred as a result of taking Actos, including bladder cancer and aftereffects, pain, suffering, mental anguish, bodily impairment and diminished enjoyment of life, according to the complaint. The plaintiffs also seek other damages for economic loss and medical bills.

The lawsuit claims that Takeda was aware of scientific data linking Actos to bladder cancer prior to the drug receiving FDA approval in 1999. Not only did Takeda not come forward with this information, the lawsuit claims, they continued to push forward and promote the drug as safe and effective after it was approved. In 2005, for example, the Takeda-funded PROactive study found statistically significant data linking Actos to bladder cancer. But when the study went into publication, the bladder cancer risks were omitted, and Takeda downplayed the findings. 

Public scrutiny of Actos has grown significantly in the last few years. In 2010, the FDA issued a Safety Announcement stating that interim data of an ongoing epidemiological study showed a link between Actos and bladder cancer. The review found that taking Actos at higher dosages or and for longer periods increases the risk of developing bladder cancer. In 2011, both France and Germany suspended the sales of Actos after a French study found a statistically significant link between Actos and bladder cancer. Earlier this year, Health Canada also warned against the Actos bladder cancer link.

About Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman, PC

Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman is a recognized preeminent plaintiff firm based in Los Angeles. The firm’s Actos attorneys are currently representing dozens of Actos bladder cancer victims and their families in personal injury and wrongful death cases against Takeda, in both federal and state courts. Senior partner, Michael Baum, and partner Cynthia Garber are working directly with the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee (PSC) overseeing the Actos MDL 6:11-md-2299 (multi-district litigation) cases consolidated in federal court in the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. They have also recently been appointed to the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee, Judicial Council Coordinated Proceedings (JCCP 4696) In re Actos Product Liability Cases in Los Angeles, California. The members of the PSC manage the complex mass tort litigation arising from the Actos bladder cancer cases that have been consolidated in California at Los Angeles Superior Court.