A federal judge hearing Actos multidistrict litigation lawsuits has denied plaintiffs’ motion for sanctions against Eli Lilly & Co. after the company’s witness, a former senior director, allegedly perjured himself in an early bellwether Actos lawsuit trial.

Earlier this year, the federal court approved various bellwether trials to be held regarding the larger, ongoing MDL In re: Actos (Pioglitazone) Products Liability Litigation. This MDL involves a slew of Actos lawsuits filed by plaintiffs who developed bladder cancer and are seeking to hold manufacturer Takeda Pharmaceuticals and its marketing partner Eli Lilly responsible.

In one of the first of the trials, Allen, et al. v. Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., et al., former senior director of Eli Lilly’s global marketing Ronald Hoven was called out by plaintiffs Terence and Susan Allen for alleged contradictory statements on the witness stand. Hoven, during the cross examination, originally “denied having any knowledge of bladder cancer questions arising during the time he worked with Actos after 2006,” and “he denied knowing anything about alleged ghostwriting by his colleagues at Lilly.” Actos lawsuit attorneys allege that this contradicts earlier sworn declarations by Hoven and other Eli Lilly employees.

When Hoven was directly questioned on the matter, he answered that “he simply didn’t remember having seen documents that were found in his custodial files instead of denying that he ever knew anything about the content of those documents.” Judge Rebecca F. Doherty found Hoven’s earlier assertions “regrettable,” but does not find that they warrant a criminal investigation of Hoven or court sanctions against Eli Lilly.

These accusations came following the Allen trial, which resulted in a $1.5 million damages award, and $9 billion in punitive damages assessed against Takeda and Eli Lilly for allegedly destroying evidence pertinent to the ongoing bellwether trials and MDL.

The Actos Lawsuit is Allen, et al. v. Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., et al. and is part of In re Actos (Pioglitazone) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2299, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.

What is Actos?

Actos is a prescription drug used treat type-2 diabetes. Actos is produced and sold by Takeda Pharmaceuticals and marketed by Eli Lilly Co. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) gave initial drug approval for Actos in 1996. There is evidence, including pre-clinical scientific studies, that the pharmaceutical company became aware of the correlation between consumption of Actos and development of bladder cancer in the early 2000s, just a few years after FDA approval.

The FDA released a public health notice in 2011 warning Actos users of the possibility of developing Actos bladder cancer. In this notice, the FDA additionally warned physicians to discontinue Actos prescription and treatment for patients already diagnosed with bladder cancer. In light of the FDA warning, Takeda has since changed the Actos labeling and marketing to reflect the possibility of developing bladder cancer from long-term use of Actos.

In addition to increased risk of developing  bladder cancer, other side effects of taking Actos include:

• Chronic kidney disease
• Congestive heart failure
• Liver failure
• Lactic acidosis
• Bone fracture
• Rapid and excessive weight gain
• Difficulty breathing
• Edema (or fluid retention)