Dangerous drugs update: Takeda Pharmaceuticals will pay approximately $2.5 billion to resolve lawsuits involving its drug, Actos.
Takeda has agreed to settle more than 8,000 product liability claims that allege that Takeda and Eli Lilly failed to adequately warn the medical community and consumers regarding the risk of bladder cancer and that information regarding the link between bladder cancer and Actos was withheld.
The settlement will occur as long as 95 percent of plaintiffs who have filed lawsuits agree to participate. Takeda will pay $2.37 billion in the settlement if 95 percent of claimants opt in while the figure would rise to $2.4 billion if 97 percent of plaintiffs agree to the settlement.
The settlement was prompted by several multi-million dollar verdicts returned by juries in several lawsuits that have been tried. The first federal trial, which took place in April 2014, resulted in a $9 billion verdict. Evidence was presented at that trial revealing that the pharmaceutical companies destroyed evidence concerning the risk of bladder cancer that users of Actos were exposed to. The federal judge before whom the case was tried subsequently reduced the punitive damage award to $37 million. The judge opined that big companies needed to be detered from behaving as Takeda and Eli Lilly behaved.
The individual settlements to Actos victims is anticipated to be nearly $300,000 each. Individual risk factors such as age, smoking history and exposure to other cancer risks could reduce individual awards.
This settlement will be one of the biggest settlements in the United States for injuries caused by side effects from dangerous drugs.
The Ohio Actos attorneys at Clark, Perdue & List currently represent individuals who have developed bladder cancer following use of Actos.