Takeda Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly and Company are facing a new Actos drug lawsuit, from a woman alleging the type-2 diabetes medication caused the death of her aunt.

Plaintiff Caroline B. filed this Actos drug lawsuit on behalf of her late aunt Leonor M., who had been prescribed the type-2 diabetes medication for typical treatment purposes.

The Actos drug lawsuit alleges that the type-2 diabetes treatment medication presented unreasonable health risks to the claimant’s aunt, which reportedly included the development of bladder cancer.

Actos Treatment

Actos (pioglitazone) is a type-2 diabetes oral medication that works by decreasing the amount of insulin resistance, which reduces that amount of glucose made by the liver. This essentially allows the body to better manage its blood sugar level, which ensures a healthy level of insulin.

Insulin is necessary for the body’s metabolic process, and is responsible for retrieving nutrients from food and liquids. Without sufficient insulin levels, a buildup of ketones or blood acids can occur; that may compound into diabetic ketoacidosis and kidney failure.

To prevent these and other complications related to type-2 diabetes, Caroline alleges, Leonor agreed to Actos treatment therapy. According to the Actos drug lawsuit, Leonor began her prescription in 2010 and had followed all prescription instructions and physician’s advice while taking the drug.

Even with this diligence, Leonor still allegedly developed serious health complications, including being diagnosed with bladder cancer in August 2016. According to the Actos drug lawsuit Leonor had died from bladder cancer soon after, leaving her niece to file legal action.

Caroline opted to file this Actos drug lawsuit, after discovering that Takeda and Eli Lilly may have known about the risk of bladder cancer for years.

Overview of Actos Bladder Cancer Risk

Actos was approved by the FDA in July 1999 to be a treatment drug for type-2 diabetes, and cannot work without the presence of insulin. This means that while Actos can be very helpful to patients with type-2 diabetes, it is virtually ineffective in type-1 diabetes patients with no insulin.

Even though Actos has helped numerous patients over the years, it has recently become associated with bladder cancer.

The FDA made a public announcement regarding this correlation in 2016, stating that the medication “may be associated with an increased risk in urinary bladder cancer, and we have updated the drug labels to include information about these additional studies.”

The FDA made this announcement after reviewing the preliminary results of a 10 year study, which allegedly already found an increased risk of bladder cancer in Actos users. It is important to note that the FDA initially warned against Actos bladder cancer in June 2011, after the agency received numerous injury reports indicating a correlation.

Even though bladder cancer can be potentially fatal, Takeda and Eli Lilly allegedly failed to warn the public against this connection. Caroline states that Leonor would not have agreed to take the Actos medication, if she had known about its alleged correlation with bladder cancer.

This Actos Drug Lawsuit is Case No. N18C-08-010 JRJ, in the Superior Court of the State of Delaware.