A Japanese-based pharmaceutical company, Takeda, is facing an onslaught of personal injury and wrongful death claims for what victims say was the distribution of an “unreasonably dangerous and defective drug” used in the treatment of Type-2 diabetes. Reportedly, the drug has been shown to cause bladder cancer in patients.
The cases have been consolidated before a United States District Judge in Louisiana. According to the lawsuit, the pharmaceutical company should have known that the drug, called Actos, presented an increased risk for the development of bladder cancer.
According to the complaint, “Takeda failed to properly warn plaintiffs of the very real and dangerous link between the use if Actos and bladder cancer. The company had a responsibility to disclose this information to health care workers and patients. Instead of helping them, this prescription drug has led to disease and death. Takeda should be held accountable for their wrong-doing.”
For victims’ families that have suffered due to the wrongful death of a loved one that developed cancer after taking Actos as a type-2 diabetes treatment, depending on the outcome of the litigation, compensation may help to cover the expenses of treatment the victims needed before their untimely death. Furthermore, compensation may give the family some sense of closure in that the company that resulted in their loved one’s death has been held accountable.
If a family in Louisiana or elsewhere is suffering because a loved one has wrongfully died as a result of being treated with Actos, then that family may do well to seek legal counsel.
Source: Salient News, “Baum Hedlund Files Federal Actos Bladder Cancer Lawsuit On Behalf Of Virginia Couple,” March 21, 2012
