A significant number of patients of the
type 2 diabetes treatment drug Actos have filed lawsuits against drugmaker
Takeda because of potentially life-threatening Actos
side effects. Most plaintiffs cite bladder cancer as their reason for
filing suit. They are accusing Takeda of knowing that the drug caused bladder
cancer based on tests on animals, which showed signs of bladder cancer when
Actos was administered. Although this was allegedly already known by Takeda,
they did apparently nothing to warn plaintiffs about the risk, instead
continuing to market the drug. Only in June of 2011 did the Food and Drug
Administration release the results of a study that seemed to point to the fact
that taking Actos for over a year did, in fact, increase a patient’s chances of
getting Actos bladder
cancer.
There are such a significant number of cases that have been filed
surrounding Actos that plaintiffs have petitioned the U.S. Judicial Panel on
Multidistrict Litigation to consolidate the cases into multidistrict
litigation by Actos lawyer.
This would help speed up the judicial process by combining pretrial
discovery and other processes, combining similar cases with similar discovery
needs, but would let the cases retain some individuality because after the
discovery period, cases may be sent back to the courts from which they came.
Since litigation can last years, it is a good idea for many to do all they can
to help speed the litigation process. The plaintiffs specified that they would
like the multidistrict litigation to take place in the Southern District of Illinois.
Drugmaker Takeda agreed with the move to
consolidate litigation, although they indicated that they would prefer to have
the multidistrict litigation take place in one of two alternative venues—the
Western District of Louisiana, where a number of cases are already pending, or
the Northern District of Illinois, where Takeda is headquartered. While it is
not clear where the litigation will finally end up taking place, the matter
will be discussed by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation during
their next hearing in December of this year.
Heart failure has also been associated with
Actos, and a number of these lawsuits would not be surprising.
No comments:
Post a Comment