Plaintiff Wins First Actos Bladder Cancer Trial

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - April 30, 2013 - PRLog -- In the first Actos bladder cancer case to be tried, the jury awarded plaintiff, Jack  Cooper, $6.5 million in damages against Actos manufacturer, Takeda Pharmaceutical of Japan. Plaintiff claimed that Takeda failed to warn consumers that its Actos diabetes drug could cause bladder cancer and the jury agreed. Mr. Cooper’s case was the first of over 3,000 Actos lawsuits filed in the U.S, Plaintiff argued that Takeda knew that Actos was linked to bladder cancer as early as 2004, but failed to alert the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) until seven years later, trying to maintain its $1.6 billion in annual sales.

   Jurors deliberated whether Actos manufacturer, Takeda, should be held liable for failing to properly warn patients and their doctors that Actos could cause bladder cancer. Actos was approved for treatment of Type 2 diabetes in 1999. Court documents show that Takeda conducted animal studies prior to the drugs’ release and discovered tumors in the animal test subjects. The drug still gained approval and became a top seller for Takeda. Plaintiff asserted that Takeda’s own research noted links between Actos and bladder cancer as early as 2004, but failed to inform regulators for seven years. Takeda downplayed concerns about Actos’ cancer-causing potentials and misled US regulators regarding the medicine’s risks.  Plaintiff argued that even after FDA officials requested Takeda to update warnings about Actos’ health risks in 2005 and 2006, that Takeda executives stalled trying to maintain its $1.6 billion in sales.

According to Plaintiff, Takeda’s own internal e-mails urged colleagues to persuade the FDA not to demand increased warning about bladder cancer on Actos’s label.   However, in 2011, the FDA changed the safety label on Actos to warn that the drug may increase the risk of bladder cancer after one year of use.  Several studies have supported the association between Actos and bladder cancer. A May 31, 2012 British Medical Journal article showed that patients were twice as likely to get bladder cancer after taking Actos for two years and a July 3, 2012 Canadian Medical Association Journal published a study indicating that Actos was linked to a 22 percent increased risk of developing bladder cancer.

The jurors awarded Jack Cooper $5 million in compensatory damages and $1.5 million to his wife. The jury panel declined the couple’s request that Takeda face a punitive-damage award according to court records.

   Ennis & Ennis, P.A. continues to offer free, nationwide, confidential consultations to anyone who was injured by Actos by calling toll free 1-800-856-6405 or by going to www.ennislaw.com and completing an online case evaluation form. Actos users developing bladder cancer may be entitled to compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering and more.