An Actos lawsuit was filed by Louisiana resident Patsy Martin on behalf of herself and her husband Donald Martin, who allegedly developed bladder cancer after taking Actos to manage his type-2 diabetes.

Mr. Martin was prescribed Actos in August 2001 and continued to take the diabetes medication until October 2005. Soon after, he was reportedly diagnosed with bladder cancer. Mr. Martin’s Actos bladder cancer is considered terminal and he is reportedly unlikely to survive it.

Mrs. Martin filed this Actos lawsuit against Takeda Pharmaceuticals for injury, wrongful death, and survival action on behalf of herself and her husband.

The Martins are seeking monetary compensation for the “bodily injury including cancerous tumor(s) in [Mr. Martin’s] bladder and were thus caused to sustain severe and permanent personal injuries, pain, suffering, and mental anguish.”

This compensation will also go to aid Mrs. Martin in the future for loss of consortium, past and future emotional and mental distress, and medical expenses incurred from caring for her spouse.

Mr. Martin is not the only Actos patient who has allegedly developed bladder cancer as a result of prolonged use of this diabetes medication. Other Actos patients are also pursuing Actos class action lawsuits to collect damages for pain and suffering incurred from Takeda Pharmaceuticals’ unlawful business practices.

What is Actos?

Actos is a prescription drug treatment for type-2 diabetes, produced and sold by Takeda Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. It was given U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval in 1996 and has been sold throughout the United States for more than a decade since.

According to the Actos lawsuit, Takeda Pharmaceuticals “knew or should have known that Actos use in humans was associated with and/or would cause the induction of bladder cancer.” There is evidence that the pharmaceutical company became aware of this in the early 2000s, just a couple years after FDA approval.

Additionally, the company allegedly “possessed pre-clinical scientific studies including animal evidence, which evidence [Takeda] knew or should have known was a signal that bladder cancer risk needed to be further tested and studied before placing Actos on the market.”

However, Takeda Pharmaceuticals never conducted additional tests and followed through with the Actos New Drug of Application, the Martins allege in their bladder cancer lawsuit.

On June 15, 2011, the FDA released a public warning stating that a one year extended consumption of Actos was associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer. In light of this, the FDA also recommended that physicians discontinue all prescription and use of Actos for their patients diagnosed with active bladder cancer. Since the FDA warning, Takeda has changed the Actos label to reflect the evidence of increased bladder cancer after long term use of the diabetes drug.

However, in the case of the Martins, the “product warnings for Actos in effect during the time period Plaintiffs used Actos were vague, incomplete or otherwise inadequate [.]”

They claim in their Actos lawsuit that they were not adequately aware of all the dangers and risks that taking Actos posed to Mr. Martin’s health, and had the Martins known, they would have chosen to pursue a safer drug to treat his type-2 diabetes.

Actos Side Effects

Aside from an increased risk of bladder cancer, other Actos side effects include:

• Chronic Kidney Disease
• Congestive Heart Failure
• Liver Failure
• Lactic Acidosis
• Bone Fracture
• Rapid and excessive weight gain
• Difficulty breathing
• Edema (or fluid retention)