Actos News

Jury to Hear Claims that Takeda Intentionally Destroyed Actos Files
January 27, 2014

A jury deciding a case against Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. will be allowed to hear claims that the drug maker intentionally destroyed files related to Actos (pioglitazone), a Type 2 diabetes drug. Takeda, the company that brought Actos to market in 1999, has been named in thousands of lawsuits claiming the drug causes bladder cancer.

According to Bloomberg, Takeda has admitted that they can't find Actos files that were "compiled by 46 current and former employees involved with the development, marketing and sale of Actos, including two directors." Some Actos related files were deleted from company computers after Takeda executives told employees to hold onto any Actos files. U.S. District Judge Rebecca Doherty said in her filing that "the breadth of Takeda leadership whose files have been lost, deleted or destroyed is, in and of itself, disturbing."

Because Takeda breached its duty to preserve evidence, the Honorable Judge Doherty will allow plaintiffs lawyers representing Terrance Allen to inform the jury about the destroyed evidence. Mr. Allen, a retired shopkeeper who took Actos for seven years, was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2011. He claims he developed bladder cancer as a result of taking Actos.  His case is one of thousands of Actos bladder cancer cases that have been consolidated into a federal multidistrict litigation (MDL).