A Janumet pancreatic cancer lawsuit was filed by the widow of a man who died after using the type-2 diabetes drug.

Plaintiff Peggy Pace filed the Janumet lawsuit over the death of her husband, Fred Pace. Fred Pace took Janumet from January 2009 until November 2009 The drug was administered under a physician’s advice and guidance, based on materials and information supplied by the drug’s manufacturer, according to the Janumet lawsuit. In August 2012, Pace was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He died the following month.

Janumet is a drug designed to treat type-2 diabetes. Diabetes is a life-threatening condition, with complications including kidney failure and heart disease. Drugs like Janumet are designed to help control the disease, and prevent or limit complications. However, it has been alleged the drug may have serious side effects.

Research studies have linked Janumet and related drugs to an increase in a person’s risk of developing certain types of cancer, particularly pancreatic cancer. Janumet pancreatic cancer lawsuits allege that the manufacturers of these drugs were aware, or reasonably should have been aware, of the risk of pancreatic cancer allegedly linked to Janumet and related drugs.

The Janumet pancreatic cancer lawsuits against the drug’s manufacturer further allege that not only were they aware, but that they deliberately downplayed the risks associated with the drug and continued to invest millions of dollars in the advertising and promotion of the Janumet.

The bulk of the Janumet pancreatic cancer lawsuits are not part of a multidistrict litigation, or MDL. MDLs are a type of group litigation in which a number of similar cases are grouped together. In many ways, MDLs are similar to class action lawsuits. In both MDLs and class action lawsuits, a group of plaintiffs allege that they have suffered similar harm at the hands of the same defendant. The main different is that class action lawsuits start out as group lawsuits, while MDLs start as similar individual lawsuits that later grouped together.

The Janumet Pancreatic Cancer Lawsuit is Pace v. Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp, Case No. 3:2014cv01703, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. The MDL is In Re: Incretin-Based Therapies Products Liabilities Litigation, MDL No. 2452, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.