Actos Lawsuits surge in Illinois

More actos lawsuit are being filed by people who claim the type 2 diabetes drug caused them to develop bladder cancer. The most recent actos bladder cancer lawsuit, filed in federal court in Illinois by a Georgia woman, Josephine Stodgill, alleges Takeda Pharmaceuticals failed to warn patients about the bladder cancer risk associated with Actos.The Stodgill lawsuit is just the latest to be filed by a victim of bladder cancer allegedly caused by Actos. So far, at least 54 cases have been filed in federal district courts throughout the U.S. plaintiffs argue that Takeda failed to properly research the medication or warn about the risk.

Recent research has suggested that actos side effects may increase the risk of bladder cancer the longer the medications is taken. Actos is expected to be named in hundreds of lawsuits claiming it caused users to develop bladder cancer.
Earlier this month, several lawyers told the Associated Press that they have 100 or more Actos bladder cancer cases pending at their firms. More than 20 firms, from Florida to Washington State, are advertising for clients on the Internet or in newspapers, the report said. In recent years, use of Actos has increased as some studies have suggested that the diabetes medication may be safer than Avandia. 

Actos was developed by Takeda Pharmaceuticals and approved for treatment of type 2 diabetes in 1999. Sales for for the medication have increased in recent years, with Takeda generating an estimated $3.4 billion from Actos in 2010. Lawyers first began reviewing whether individuals diagnosed with bladder cancer may be entitled to an Actos settlement after Takeda pharmaceuticals released interim data from an on-going 10 year study in September 2010. Five-year data from the cohort study involving nearly 200,000 patients with diabetes suggested that there may be an increased risk of bladder cancer from Actos the longer the medication is taken.More recently, mounting evidence regarding the link between Actos and bladder cancer have resulted in new warnings being issued in the United States and some European countries have required an Actos recall to protect consumers. No such recall has been issued within the United States as of yet.