A man who developed bladder cancer after taking Actos has filed an Actos bladder cancer lawsuit against the type-2 diabetes drug’s manufacturer, Takeda Pharmaceuticals USA.

The Actos bladder cancer lawsuit was filed by plaintiff John Hartwick. According to his Actos bladder cancer lawsuit, Hartwick’s physicians prescribed him the drug in 2007 and he took Actos from April 2007 through October 2011 to help control his type-2 diabetes.

The Actos lawsuit states that in 2011 Hartwick received a diagnosis of bladder cancer, a condition he was still being treated for. His Actos lawsuit holds that the drug caused his cancer, and that Takeda Pharmaceuticals did not do enough to protect him and other patients from this risk.

Hartwick’s Actos bladder cancer lawsuit alleges that the makers of Actos reasonably should have been aware of the risk of bladder cancer associated with the drug. According to the Actos lawsuit, the earliest animal trials of Actos found that the drug increased the risk of developing bladder cancer in mammals. Postmarket surveillance and research quoted in the Actos bladder cancer lawsuit further supported this.

A 2005 study, which actually set out to look for heart and blood vessel disease found that the drug was linked to an increased risk of bladder cancer. In 2011, an article published in Diabetes Carefound there was an association with the use of Actos and an increased risk of developing bladder cancer. The study used U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) data collected between 2004 and 2009. By mid-2011, several European countries had suspended the use of the drug, including France and Germany. The same year, the FDA had issued several Safety Announcements warning that the drug could increase a patient’s risk of developing bladder cancer.

Hartwick’s Actos bladder cancer lawsuit further alleges that despite these risks, Takeda continued to aggressively market the drug, earning billions in sales right up to when the drug was suspended or banned in various countries. Actos remains among Takeda’s best-selling drugs, accounting for 27 percent of the company’s revenue in 2012. In the same fiscal year, the drug had international revenues $4.8 billion, putting it in the “blockbuster” range for pharmaceuticals.

Hartwicks’ Actos bladder cancer lawsuit alleges that this aggressive and successful marketing, which made Takeda billions, endangered diabetes patients like himself by pushing a dangerous drug on an unsuspecting public. His Takeda lawsuit accuses Takeda’s of fraud and negligence.

The Actos Bladder Cancer Lawsuit is John W. Hartwick v. Takeda Pharmaceuticals USA Inc., et al.,Case No. 6:14-cv-20490-RFD-PJH. It has been added to the Actos MDL, In Re: Actos (Pioglitazone) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2299, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.