Charleston Actos Defective Drug Lawyer

If you suffer from Type 2 diabetes, it is important to have the right kind of diet and medications to help you live an active life. You may have been prescribed or are taking a very popular drug called Actos. However, many patients on Actos have a much higher rate of bladder cancer than other patients on different medications.

Actos toppled Avandia to become the top-selling diabetic medication, despite it being linked to blindness, heart failure and strokes. Avandia, which was found to significantly increase the risk of heart attacks, was banned in Europe and restricted in the United States.

Actos was first marketed by Takeda Pharmaceuticals America Inc., and Eli Lilly and Co. in 1999 for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes. Eventually, GlaxoSmithKline settled approximately 12,000 lawsuits for about $700 million in settlement for Actos lawsuits.

You may be worried, scared and may well have been diagnosed with bladder cancer or are possibly in the early stages of bladder cancer. This is not something you need to deal with on your own. At the Steinberg Law Firm we get that you are upset and feel betrayed. You took the drugs your physician said to take and expected that they would help you. Never, in your wildest dreams, did you think the medication that was supposed to help you would harm you and may even kill you.

Actos for Type 2 diabetes

Actos is also referred to as pioglitazone and is made by Takeda Pharmaceuticals. This drug was once the best-selling Type 2 diabetes drug in the world until it was discovered that those who took it had a much higher rate of contracting bladder cancer than others on different glucose control medications. Actos is may be sold in combination with metformin and marketed as Actoplus Met, Actoplus Met XR and/or in combination with glimepiride (Duetact).

Patients that found out about the connection between bladder cancer and taking Actos started to file defective drug lawsuits, alleging Takeda was negligent is designing and properly testing the drug and that they failed to warn consumers and the medical profession that there was an increased risk of acquiring bladder cancer. Ultimately, Takeda paid out $2.3 billion in settlement to affected patients.

Post lawsuit settlement time the prescribing information for Actos changed to indicate a reference to bladder cancer. It is largely considered to be inadequate and too vague to be useful or to protect patients taking it. Additionally, given the large number of doctors prescribing this medication and the significant number of Americans taking it, it is possible that not everyone is aware of the risks of taking Actos.

Surprisingly, the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) has not issued a recall for this drug. Instead, they opted to add more warnings to the drug to inform patients and doctors of the risks involved in taking Actos despite the mounting evidence revealed in various studies showing a link between taking pioglitazone and bladder cancer.

Actos side effects

Common side effects may include:

• Back pain
• Mouth pain
• Teeth problems
• Vomiting
• Nausea
• Stomach pains
• Cold/flu-like symptoms
• Headache
• Gradual weight gain
• Muscle pain
• Pain on urination
• Dark urine
• Frequent urination
• Blood in urine
• Rapid weight gain
• Swelling
• Chest pain
• Shortness of breath
• Upper stomach pain
• Itching
• Loss of appetite
• Blurred vision
• Clay colored stools
• Feeling unwell
• Pale skin
• Easy bleeding/bruising
• Increased thirst or hunger
• Vision changes
• Loss of vision
• Yellow skin or eyes (jaundice)
• Weakness

What can a plaintiff claim in an Actos lawsuit?

There are a number of things that an affected consumer may claim in filing an Actos lawsuit, including:

• Negligence, recklessness or intentional hiding of important data showing increased risk of bladder cancer from the public
• The drug company knew or should have known about the risks associated with Actos in light of the studies indicating a link between the drug and bladder cancer back from the early 2000s
• Consumer fraud
• Defective drug
• Failure to warn
• Misrepresentation
• The company failed to publish data from a 2005 trial showing a link between bladder cancer and Actos use, published in Lancet in 2005
• Failure to mention a report from 2011 citing adverse events between 2004-2009
• Failure to mention a French study that found pioglitazone exposure was significantly associated with bladder cancer incidence. The more a person took, the higher the risks were of contracting bladder cancer
• Failure to inform federal regulators of safety concerns about the drug’s side effects

Actos settlements and trials

In 2014, Eli Lilly and Takeda were ordered to pay $9 million in punitive damages in a trial due to the court finding that Takeda hid the risks of Actos being linked to bladder cancer. The amount was subsequently reduced to $336.8 million by a judge.

After a number of years of being on the market and causing irreparable harm to millions of Actos users, Takeda agreed to a settlement of $2.4 billion for bladder cancer victims. At the time of that settlement in 2015, there were approximately 9,000 Actos lawsuits pending. Despite settling the pending lawsuits, Takeda continues to insist Actos was not responsible for the development of bladder cancer in patients.

In May 2018 Takeda was hit with another lawsuit, a class action alleging consumers paid for an “inefficacious and dangerous” drug to control their diabetes. And yet, this drug is still on the market.

The Steinberg Law Firm understands what it takes to make a solid defective drug case that results in fair and equitable compensation for you. Call us today for your free consultation and learn about your legal rights. Call The Steinberg Law Firm at 843-720-2800 as soon as possible to tell us your story.

Defective drug lawsuits are extremely complex, and making sure you have an experienced Actos lawyer from the Steinberg Law Firm makes certain you do not face any potential pitfalls.

Our initial consultation is confidential and completely free of charge. You pay nothing to speak to a lawyer about your case. We understand that the claims process can be difficult, and the paperwork can really pile up. Our defective drug attorneys can help you understand the details of your case, your legal rights, and how to get the compensation and justice you deserve.