Actos Lawsuits

The Gallagher Law Firm is currently litigating cases involving Actos bladder cancer. If you believe you require legal representation for an issue related to Actos, please call The Gallagher Law Firm at (888) 222-7052 or contact us online. You can speak to an Actos lawyer for free to learn about your legal options and rights. 

Actos

Actos has been approved by the FDA since 1999 but it was not until 2007 that awareness began to spread over the drug’s risk to cause or worsen congestive heart failure. In 2011, the FDA announced that exposure to pioglitazone — the primary ingredient in Actos — for longer than twelve months may increase the risk of bladder cancer in patients by an astonishing 40%.

Actos has been prescribed to millions of diabetic patients and now Takeda Pharmaceuticals is facing more than 50 pending federal lawsuits and hundreds more are being filed as the awareness continues to spread about the dangers of pioglitazone.

Manufacturer May Have Suppressed Information

Dr. Helen Ge was employed as a safety consultant in the pharmacovigilance department of Japanese company Takeda Pharmaceuticals to review and report any adverse affects or signs of potential safety hazards of many of their drugs, including Actos.

Dr. Ge alleges that Takeda told the medical reviewers of Actos to not report any events of congestive heart failure where the event did not lead to hospitalization or death as “serious adverse effects”, manipulating their report to the FDA to inaccurately identify the hundreds of incidents where these serious adverse effects would be brought to attention.

During the initial animal studies, Dr. Ge stated to have found carcinogens among those being exposed to Actos and over one hundred of the subjects formed tumors in their bladder, while only 72 were reported to the FDA. After expressing this information to her superiors, Ge recalls being told to change the “related” status of the danger to “unrelated” and as she pressed her concerns about the dangers of Actos, Takeda terminated her employment contract.

False Advertisement

Dr. Ge claims that Takeda used the negative publicity of Avandia’s recall (another diabetes drug) to their advantage by falsely advertising how Actos is a completely safe alternative, thus increasing their sales while negating other competition.

Lawsuits filed by victims of Takeda’s misleading information state that the company engaged in deceptive and unfair methods to entice doctors and patients into recommending and purchasing their product. Plaintiffs allege that Takeda gave false information, knowing that their product is potentially dangerous and chose to withhold such information for the purpose of gaining ill-gotten profit and increasing their sales and reputation.

The French National Health Insurance Plan studied similar data and recalled Actos from the French market. For the same reasons, German doctors have ceased prescribing the drug to new patients.

If you feel you are a victim of Takeda Pharmaceutical’s misleading conduct due to developing bladder cancer caused by exposure to Actos, call The Gallagher Law Firm at (888) 222-7052 or apply online for a free consultation.