Actos Lawsuit Information Center

Actos is a brand name for the drug pioglitazone. Because studies show that Actos users face an increased risk of developing bladder cancer, France has issued an Actos recall and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an Actos bladder-cancer warning. The Rottenstein Law Group is now accepting Actos lawsuit claims.

What Is Actos and What Is It Prescribed For?

Manufactured by Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Actos is a brand name for the drug pioglitazone. It was approved for the treatment of type-2 diabetes in 1999 and is currently the world’s best-selling diabetes medication, accounting for $4.1 billion of Takeda’s gross sales between March 2010 and March 2011.

Actos and GlaxoSmithKline’s Avandia, another medication prescribed for the <br>treatment of diabetes, are members of the thiazolidinedione (TDZ) class of drugs. Currently the world’s best-selling diabetes medication, Actos became the leader in the diabetes-drug market after a 2007 study showed Avandia users have a 43% higher risk of having a heart attack.

Given the significant heart-attack risk linked to Avandia, the FDA has issued requirements mandating that doctors only prescribe Avandia to patients who have failed therapy with Actos. That may change, however, as the adverse effects of Actos become better known.

Bladder Cancer Sufferers Are Filing Actos Lawsuits

Based on research that shows a link between taking Actos and developing bladder cancer, the Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”) on Aug. 5, 2011, said it had approved changing the pioglitazone label to state that pioglitazone should not be prescribed to patients with bladder cancer and that the drug should be used with caution for those with a history of bladder cancer.

Nevertheless, the FDA has not announced an Actos recall, but that has not stopped hundreds of bladder cancer sufferers from filing Actos lawsuits. In January 2012, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation consolidated hundreds of Actos lawsuits into a single multidistrict litigation (MDL) in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana before Judge Rebecca F. Doherty. The first bellwether trials for the MDL are scheduled to begin in November 2014. Meanwhile, in Canada plaintiffs filed a class action Actos lawsuit against the manufacturer in August 2012.

To file a lawsuit for injuries you suffered as the result of a medicine you took, that medicine doesn’t have to have been recalled.

Former Takeda Employee Alleges Fraud

In March 2012, a former employee at Takeda announced that she had filed an Actos whistle-blower lawsuit against the company based on the federal False Claims Act and similar state statutes. The employee, Helen Ge, alleges that Takeda engaged in “systemic fraud and deceit” by classifying Actos users’ heart congestion symptoms in a way that contravened the FDA’s adverse event reporting regulations.

According to Ge’s complaint, Takeda staff “improperly instructed its medical reviewers to change their professional opinion regarding adverse event classifications and assessments” between 2007 and 2010, when the complaint was filed. After warning her superiors that reducing the Actos congestive heart failure classifications was improper, Takeda fired Ge. The U.S. Department of Justice and analogous state agencies have declined to intervene on her behalf. Nevertheless, Ge might be able to obtain 15-30% of the hundreds of millions of dollars in damages that would be paid to the governments involved.

RLG Lawyers Will Make Things Easier

If you believe that you or someone you love has developed bladder cancer or suffered some other adverse side effect as a result of taking Actos, submit this simple secure form for a free and confidential evaluation to learn more about your eligibility to file an Actos lawsuit.

Legal action is the best way to recover the most compensation for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other damages. The Actos lawyers at the Rottenstein Law Group do everything we can to streamline the process of helping bladder cancer sufferers get the compensation they deserve. We will file an Actos lawsuit on your behalf if necessary.