A new Actos lawsuit has joined the existing litigation over the type-2 diabetes drug Actos, alleging that the drug caused the plaintiff to develop bladder cancer.

In this new Actos bladder cancer lawsuit, plaintiff Trudy Gravier states that she began taking Actos in 2001 until 2010. In late 2006, her physicians diagnosed her with bladder cancer.

Her Actos lawsuit asserts that this has taken a toll on her quality of life, and she seeks reimbursement for medical costs and attorney fees.

Gravier also claims that Takeda Pharmaceuticals had a duty to confirm the safety of Actos, and it failed to provide a safe drug to the public. Her Actos lawsuit alleges that in spite of the knowlege of the risk of Actos bladder cancer, drug makers continued to market the drug, making billions in revenue.

Gravier’s Actos bladder cancer lawsuit joins similar cases in a type of group lawsuit called a multidistrict litigation (MDL) or mass tort, which is similar to a class action lawsuit. In both MDLs and class action lawsuits, a group of plaintiffs allege that they have suffered similar harm at the hands of the same individual or company. Both MDLs and class action lawsuits are designed to streamline the legal system by combining tens, hundreds, or even thousands of individual lawsuits into a single coordinated legal action.

Actos Bladder Cancer Studies

Actos is a drug that is designed to help control blood sugar levels in patients with type-2 diabetes. In diabetes, blood glucose levels can rise high enough to cause toxic effects in the body, causing blindness and gangrene. Drugs like Actos are designed to prevent these complications. Unfortunately, Actos has been linked to an increased risk of life-threatening bladder cancer.

As early as 2005, research had began to mount showing that the drug could cause bladder cancer.

A study, called the PROactive Study (PROspective PiglitAzone Clincal Trial In Macro Vascular Events) was published. The study was looking cardiac effects associated with Actos. Instead, when researchers looked at the health of Actos users, they noticed a significantly increased incidence of bladder cancer.

Another study, commissioned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to see if there were any higher rates of liver cancer reported with Actos. The federal agency also found a higher percentage of bladder cancer patients among Actos users compared to patients using other diabetes drugs.

This culminated in a 2011 Safety Announcement by the FDA, saying that the agency was continuing to evaluate the data but cautioning doctors that preliminary data suggested a possible link.

In response to the FDA’s announcement, an executive at Takeda Pharmaceuticals asserted that the drug was not linked to bladder cancer. During this timeframe, regulators in various European countries, including France and Germany, suspended the use of the drug due to bladder cancer concerns. Actos bladder cancer concerns have led to recalls in several countries.

The Actos Bladder Cancer Lawsuit is Trudy C. Gravier v. Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., et al., Case No. 6:14-cv-01203-RFD-PJH. It has been added to In Re: Actos Products Liabiltiy Litigation, MDL No. 6:11-ms-2299, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.