Actos Lawsuit News: First Federal Actos Bladder Cancer Trial Ends With $9 Billion Punitive Damage Award, Bernstein Liebhard LLP Reports
New York, NY (PRWEB) April 08, 2014 -- The first federal trial of an Actos bladder cancer lawsuit (http://www.consumerinjurylawyers.com/actos/Actos-Lawsuit.html) has ended in a significant victory for the Plaintiff, Bernstein Liebhard LLP reports. According to court documents, the jury hearing the case in the U.S. District Court, Western District of Louisiana, found that the manufacturers of the Type 2 diabetes treatment concealed the risk of bladder cancer associated with the drug, and awarded the Plaintiff $1.5 million in compensatory damages. The panel also ordered Takeda Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly & Co. to pay an additional $9 billion in punitive damages after finding that they “acted with wanton and reckless disregard” for patients’ safety. (Allen v. Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America Inc., 12-cv-00064)
“Our Firm is representing a number of clients in Actos lawsuits that make allegations similar to the claims put forth in this case. We are encouraged by this verdict,” says Bernstein Liebhard LLP, a nationwide law firm representing the victims of defective drugs and medical devices. The Firm is currently offering free legal evaluations to individuals who were treated with Actos for a year or more, and who allegedly went on to develop bladder cancer due to their use of the drug.
Actos Bladder Cancer Litigation
According to a report from Bloomberg News, the jury hearing the federal Actos trial deliberated for only four hours before reaching its verdict. Takeda was ordered to pay a $6 billion portion of the punitive damage judgment, while Eli Lilly was assessed $3 billion. The $9 billion award ranks as the seventh-largest in U.S. history, Bloomberg said.*
While compensatory damages are meant to pay plaintiffs for their actual losses, punitive damages are assessed to discourage companies from engaging in wrongdoing. According to court documents, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Doherty ruled in February that jurors could be told Takeda Pharmaceuticals intentionally destroyed documents related to the development, marketing and sale of Actos. During the trial, jurors were instructed that they could infer that the destroyed files might have supported the Plaintiff’s claims that the Defendants concealed Actos’ bladder cancer risks.
According to court filings, nearly 3,000 Actos lawsuits involving bladder cancer have been consolidated in the Western District o Louisiana. The Actos bladder cancer litigation was established in December 2011, following a U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) alert issued in June of that year which warned that use of Actos for more than 12 months had been linked to a doubling of the risk of developing bladder cancer. (In re: Actos Product Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2299)
Alleged victims of Actos and bladder cancer may be entitled to compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and more. To learn more about filing an Actos bladder cancer lawsuit by visiting Bernstein Liebhard LLP’s website. For additional information, please call 800-511-5092 today.
*bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-07/takeda-actos-jury-awards-6-billion-in-punitive-damages.html, Bloomberg News, April 7, 2014
About Bernstein Liebhard LLP
Bernstein Liebhard LLP is a New York-based law firm exclusively representing injured persons in complex individual and class action lawsuits nationwide since 1993, including those who have been harmed by dangerous drugs, defective medical devices and consumer products. The firm has been named by The National Law Journal to the Plaintiffs’ Hot List, recognizing the top plaintiffs firms in the country, for the past 12 consecutive years. Bernstein Liebhard LLP is the only firm in the country to be named to this prestigious list every year since the list was first published in 2003.
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ATTORNEY ADVERTISING. © 2014 Bernstein Liebhard LLP. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Bernstein Liebhard LLP, 10 East 40th Street, New York, New York 10016, 800-511-5092. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter.
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Bernstein Liebhard LLP
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Felecia L. Stern, Bernstein Liebhard LLP, http://www.consumerinjurylawyers.com, +1 800-511-5092, [email protected]
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