Late last year on December 29, 2011, the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation issued a Transfer Order consolidating numerous lawsuits against Takeda Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. related to the use of Actos. These cases were consolidated into MDL No. 2299 and will be centralized in the Western District of Louisiana and will now be assigned to Judge Rebecca Doherty.
The cases were consolidated based on the fact that the cases all revolve around the same allegations. These allegations include that individuals using Actos for treatment of type 2 diabetes are at an increased risk of developing bladder cancer. It is also alleged that the Defendant, Takeda, concealed their knowledge of this risk and therefore failed to provide adequate warnings to consumers.
Actos is the tenth best-selling medication in the United States and has been found to increase the risk of developing bladder cancer in patients who have taken Actos for more than one year.
Although an MDL, or Multi-District Litigation, is often confused with class action lawsuits, the cases do remain individual injury lawsuits, even though they are transferred to the same judge for pretrial litigation. If a settlement, agreement or other resolution for the litigation is not reached in the MDL, then the cases would be remanded back to the court where they were originally filed for trial.
As a patient who was prescribed Actos, either for diabetes glucose management or any other reason, you need to be aware of the increased risk of Actos bladder cancer that taking Actos brings. If you have Actos bladder cancer, or believe that you may have Actos bladder cancer, please contact me at booths@pittmandutton.com or call toll free 1-866-515-8880.
