Takeda Pharmaceutical’s impending global settlement in Actos bladder cancer lawsuits would be the first in four years of litigation over the diabetes drug.
According to confidential sources and as reported in today’s Bloomberg News, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. has indicated that it will pay more than $2.3 billion to settle the pending Actos lawsuits over bladder cancer claims. Asia’s largest drugmaker tentatively agrees to settle more than 8,000 Actos bladder cancer lawsuits in federal and state courts in the U.S.
This global settlement would still have to ratified by Takeda’s board of directors, and a board meeting is set to occur soon. Any settlement deal would average about $275,000 for each case, and would be the first in the four year old litigation over the diabetes drug. If approved, the global settlement may be announced at the next federal court hearing which is set for May 22. There are more than 4,000 federal personal injury, product liability lawsuits pending against Takeda Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly. The claims blame the companies for providing inadequate warnings about the risk of bladder cancer from Actos, a blockbuster type 2 diabetes drug. Louisiana Federal Multi-district Litigation Since December 2011, federal lawsuits have been centralized before U.S. District Judge Rebecca F. Doherty in the Western District of Louisiana, as part of an MDL, or Multi-District Litigation. It is common in mass tort pharmaceutical and medical device cases, that small groups of cases are prepared for early trial dates, known as “bellwether” cases. The first federal Actos trial ended in a record breaking $9 billion jury verdict last year. The jury found evidence that the drug makers deliberately destroyed documents about Actos and bladder cancer link. Takeda also deleted the files of 46 former and current employees, including those of top executives in Japan and U.S. sales representatives. Judge Doherty post verdict, reduced the punitive damage award in the case to $37 million. The case is on appeal. Originally posted by Shezad Malik on legalexaminer.com. Actos Bladder Cancer Lawsuits – Ball & Evans & Ball & Evans Trial Attorney – Los Angeles
