Jury Rules Takeda Failed to Properly Warn a Patient and his Doctor Regarding Risks of Ingesting Diabetes Drug Actos; Parker Waichman LLP Responds
New York, New York (PRWEB) September 27, 2013 -- Parker Waichman LLP, a national law firm dedicated to protecting the rights of victims injured by defective drugs, notes that, according to a Sept. 26 BloombergBusinessweek report, a Baltimore, Maryland-based jury has ruled that Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. failed to properly warn a patient and his doctor about the risks associated with the company’s Actos diabetes drug (An v. Nieberlein, 24-C12003565, Circuit Court for the City of Baltimore, State of Maryland). Jurors took over six hours during a two-day span before finding against Asia’s largest drug maker and holding it partially liable for the cancer death of the Plaintiff, BloombergBusinessweek reported, adding that the jury also ordered Takeda to pay damages of more than $1.7 million.
A Sept. 4 Bloomberg report disclosed that by 2005, Takeda officials had to have known that clinical studies were indicating the existence of links between Actos and cancer, but the company still failed to issue a warning. Six years would pass before the outfit spoke up about the risks associated with its diabetes drug. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which approved Actos, has been warning about Actos’s dangers since 2011. On Aug. 4 of that year, the agency issued a safety communication detailing the fact that anyone treated with Actos for more than a year faced a considerably larger risk of bladder cancer. The safety communication also noted that Actos’s label had been revised to reflect the bladder cancer risk (specifically it warned about key bladder cancer symptoms, such as bloody urine, urinary urgency or pain on urination). The updated drug label also offered healthcare professionals two recommendations:
• Don’t use Actos (pioglitazone) in patients with active bladder cancer.
• Exercise caution when using Actos to treat patients with a history of bladder cancer.
Based on Maryland law, since the jurors also found that the Plaintiff was a longtime smoker and may have contributed to his own death, the judge was required to set the verdict aside, revealed the Sept. 26 BloombergBusinessweek report.
“Notwithstanding Maryland’s stance on contributory negligence, the jury has spoken, and the jury’s decision about Takeda’s irresponsible behavior clearly supports our ongoing allegations that this drug maker failed to properly disclose the risks of Actos,” noted Parker Waichman LLP.
Aside from the FDA, research studies from other groups provide additional support for the notion of a link between Actos and bladder cancer. The British Medical Journal published a study on May 31, 2012, that revealed Actos users were twice as likely to develop bladder cancer after two years. Then, on July 3, 2012, the Canadian Medical Association Journal reported that patients taking the medication were 22 percent more likely to get bladder cancer.
Parker Waichman LLP continues to offer free legal consultations to victims of injuries allegedly caused by Actos, including bladder cancer, heart problems, and eye injuries. If you or a loved one were diagnosed with bladder cancer after taking Actos, please contact their office by visiting yourlawyer.com. Free case evaluations are also available by calling 1-800-LAW-INFO (1-800-529-4636).
Contact:
Parker Waichman LLP
Gary Falkowitz, Managing Attorney
1+ (800) LAW-INFO
1+ (800) 529-4636
http://www.yourlawyer.com
Gary Falkowitz, Parker Waichman LLP, http://yourlawyer.com/, +1 (800) 529-4636, [email protected]
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