Diabetes Drug

October 14, 2015

Texas Actos Attorney Provides Bladder Cancer Settlement Update

Takeda Pharmaceuticals has decided to wrap up the remaining Actos linked bladder cancer lawsuits. Takeda settled two more claims this week, after a two-month trial in Nevada state court.

Recently, Takeda ear-marked $2.4 billion for settlements to settle thousands of personal injury and defective product liability lawsuits brought by diabetic patients who were diagnosed with bladder cancer after using Actos.

Actos Settlement Band Wagon Keeps On Rolling

In September, Takeda said that 96% of Actos claimants signed up for its $2.3 billion settlement offer, settling most of the 8,000 plus cases pending in state and federal courts.

On other fronts, Takeda settled the 7 out of 9 cases that had been tried and were up on appeal. Takeda also agreed to toss in an extra $100 million if 97% of claims matched up with settlement criteria. Takeda is trying close down the Actos bladder litigation, by encouraging as many plaintiffs as possible to settle their injury claims and keep the settlement band wagon rolling on.

August 12, 2014

Actos Bladder Cancer Questions and Answers

by Dr. Shezad Malik

There are several thousand lawsuits filed by folks both in state and federal courts by patients who took the prescription drug pioglitazone, sold as brand name Actos and later developed bladder cancer. Doctors prescribe Actos to treat patients with Type 2 Diabetes.

Takeda Actos Bladder Cancer Verdict

On April 7, 2014, a federal jury in Louisiana found Takeda failed to adequately warn about bladder cancer risks of Actos. Jurors also found that executives of Takeda acted with wanton and reckless disregard for patient safety and awarded a total of $9 billion in punitive damages.

August 4, 2014

Takeda Seeks New Trial After Losing Actos Bladder Cancer Trial

by Dr. Shezad Malik

After a record breaking pharmaceutical $9 billion jury verdict involving Actos bladder cancer lawsuit, Takeda Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly, Actos manufacturers, have filed for a new trial. Takeda Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly, claim that the massive award shows that the jury acted with “passion and prejudice”.

Actos Record $9B Verdict

In April, a federal jury in Louisiana hammered Takeda with $1.5 million in compensatory damages and a whopping $9 billion in punitive damages. Terrance Allen and his wife’s claim, was the first out of several thousand Actos lawsuits in the federal court system to go to trial.

April 9, 2014

Louisiana Jury Hammers Takeda Actos Bladder Cancer $9 Billion Verdict

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The jury in federal court in Louisiana, sent a loud and clear message on Monday, in rendering a bombshell verdict. Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. and Eli Lilly & Co. were ordered to pay a combined $9 billion in punitive damages. The federal court jury found they hid the cancer risks of their Actos diabetes drug in the first federal U.S. trial.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4ItYan1QWo&feature=player_detailpage

Takeda, Lilly $9 Billion Punitive DamagesTakeda, based in Osaka, Japan, was ordered to pay $6 billion by the jury yesterday in Lafayette, Louisiana. Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly, Takeda’s partner, was ordered to pay $3 billion. Punitive damages are awarded in these types of cases to punish the companies for their wrongful acts.

April 6, 2014

Louisiana Actos Bladder Cancer Trial Verdict Pending

by Dr. Shezad Malik

After 33 grueling days of hotly contested trial testimony, the first federal Actos bladder cancer lawsuit trial has ended. The jury is scheduled to hear closing arguments on Monday and then deliberations will begin.

Federal Actos Trial: The Details

January 22, 2014

Actos Bladder Cancer Set for Federal Trial

by Dr. Shezad Malik

January 5, 2014

California Byetta, Januvia Pancreatic Cancer Lawsuits

by Dr. Shezad Malik

All Byetta, Januvia, Janumet and Victoza cancer lawsuits are consolidated and centralized as part of an MDL, or Multidistrict Litigation.

These product liability cases involve pancreatic cancer after the use of Byetta, Januvia, Janumet or Victoza as part of the “Incretin Mimetics Product Liability Litigation.”

September 2, 2013

Byetta, Januvia Pancreatic Cancer Lawsuits

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) has agreed to consolidate all Byetta, Januvia, Janumet and Victoza cancer lawsuits, centralizing the litigation as part of an MDL, or Multidistrict Litigation. The JPML issued a Transfer Order on August 26, and these product liability cases involve pancreatic cancer after the use of Byetta, Januvia, Janumet or Victoza as part of the “Incretin Mimetics Product Liability Litigation.”

The product liability cases will be centralized before U.S. District Judge Battaglia in the Southern District of California for coordinated handling during pretrial proceedings. The consolidation is beneficial for all parties in complex pharmaceutical litigation, to reduce repetative discovery and to prevent conflicting rulings from different federal judges.

What are Incretin Mimetics?

August 12, 2013

Cancer Risk with Byetta and Januvia Downplayed by FDA

by Dr. Shezad Malik

According to the FDA, there is no scientific evidence to confirm that a group of type 2 diabetes drugs called GLP-1 inhibitors is linked to pancreatic cancer. The FDA decision comes on the heels of the European Medicines Agency, which stated that they have been unable to confirm an increased risk of pancreatic cancer linked to side effects of Byetta, Januvia, Janumet, Victoza and other incretin mimetic drugs.

The FDA has apparently completed its safety review into the new group of medications, known as incretin mimetics, and is preparing to report that it has found no conclusive connection between the medications and pancreatic cancer. According to the EMA, its experts reviewed the data and found “methodological limitations and potential sources of bias” and decided the available data don’t bear out worries about an increased risk of “pancreatic adverse events.”

The report addresses the entire group of incretin mimetics, which comprises GLP-1 agonists, which mimic a key hormone, and DPP-4 inhibitors, which interfere with a protein that breaks down the same hormone.

June 14, 2013

Concerns About Byetta, Januvia and Victoza Drug Safety

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The National Institutes of Health held a workshop, addressing the risks associated with the newer diabetic drugs. These medications, known as Incretic Mimetics are coming under fire for alleged increased risk of pancreatic cancer.

Merck & Co., Novo Nordisk A/S and others, the manufacturers of these drugs may be asked to collect more data on a potential cancer link even as they try to reassure U.S. regulators this week of the drugs’ safety.

The Food and Drug Administration said it is considering setting up a study, either through the agency or the companies, that looks deeper into whether medicines for Type 2 diabetes, including Merck’s Januvia and Bristol Myers-Squibb Co.’s Byetta, cause pancreatic cell growth that could turn cancerous.