Dallas Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog
The first Actos bladder cancer trial is currently underway in Los Angeles, California state court and the trial started February 19th. The plaintiff, Jack Cooper, was diagnosed with bladder cancer after using Actos for more than two years. The case was given a fast track trial date because of Cooper’s terminal condition.
According to the plaintiff, Jack Cooper, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., the manufacturer of its blockbuster diabetic drug Actos, failed to warn doctors of the cancer risk associated with its diabetes treatment. This is the first of more than 3,000 lawsuits over the drug goes to trial. Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., is Asia’s biggest pharmaceutical company.
Takeda sales representatives never warned Jack Cooper’s doctor in more than 195 visits, according to Cooper’s lawyer Michael Miller in state court in Los Angeles.
The Osaka, Japanese based company is facing thousands of lawsuits which allege that Actos caused bladder cancer in patients, according to court records.
Miller said “Jack Cooper will be dead in the next seven months from bladder cancer…there is no cure.”
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., is also facing cases in state court in Illinois and more than 1,200 lawsuits consolidated before a federal judge in Louisiana, the first federal trial is scheduled for November 2014.
Actos History
Actos received approval from the FDA in 1999, and the company hired 600 sales representatives to market the drug. The company also hired doctors as key opinion leaders to publicize the drug to their colleagues.
Plaintiff is terminal
According to to Cooper’s attorney, the plaintiff is a former cable splicer for Pacific Bell, who took Actos for more than two years before being diagnosed with bladder cancer in November 2011. The grandfather and veteran, who has been married for 56 years, was in “good shape” before he started on the medication.
The case is Cooper v. Takeda Pharmaceuticals America Inc., CGC-12-518535, California Superior Court (Los Angeles)