Bladder Cancer Class Action Lawsuit

What Happened With Actos

Actos was previously the best-selling Type 2 Diabetes drug in the world but has since come under scrutiny following several scientific studies which revealed that patients on Actos have a far higher rate of bladder cancer than patients on other diabetic glucose control medications.

Many Actos patients who developed bladder cancer filed lawsuits alleging that the manufacturer of Actos, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, was negligent in testing and designing the medication, and that the drug company failed to warn of the increased risk of bladder cancer, and the company agreed to a $2.3 billion settlement.

After the lawsuits were filed, the prescribing information for Actos was changed to include a reference to bladder cancer. In our opinion, however, this warning is inadequate and inaccurate. Doctors and patients are often still unaware of the true risks of Actos.

American Medical Systems Class Action

A Canada-wide settlement has been reached and approved on October 4, 2019 to resolve litigation against American Medical Systems Canada Inc., American Medical Systems Inc., and Endo Pharmaceuticals . The Initial Claims Deadline passed on July 27, 2020. However, 20% of the net settlement funds have been reserved for a second round of claims. The second claims filing period is now running with a Supplemental Claims Deadline of July 27, 2022. If you were implanted with an AMS womens pelvic mesh device for treatment of Stress Urinary Incontinence and/or for treatment of Pelvic Organ Prolapse , you may be entitled to compensation. A copy of the Long Form Settlement Approval Notice is available by clicking here and a copy of the Claim Form is available by clicking here.

For more information, please visit www.amsmeshclassactions.ca

Overview: Actos Bladder Cancer

The Food and Drug Administration announced in 2016 that the type-2 diabetes drug Actos may increase the risk of diabetes medication bladder cancer.

The FDA first warned the public in June 2011 that taking Actos for more than one year may increase the risk of developing bladder cancer.

The FDA asked Actos maker Takeda to include a warning about the potential risk of Actos bladder cancer back in August 2011 based on the provisional results at the 5-year mark of a 10-year Actos study.

At the 5-year mark, the study was showing that there was an increased risk of diabetes medication bladder cancer developing the longer someone took the drug and when taken at a high dosage.

Another study also found an increased risk of developing Actos bladder cancer when the dosage went up and the longer someone took the drug.

These studies led the FDA to make the announcement in 2016 that Actos 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.

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Actos Lawsuit Attorneys For Victims Of Bad Drug Side Effects

The law firm of Zoll & Kranz, LLC is currently investigating the link between Actos use and bladder cancer. We have studied many reports regarding the development of bladder cancer in patients who were previously at a low risk for the disease.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is performing a five-year study on the instances of bladder cancer for individuals taking Actos. Our class action attorneys are watching this report closely. You can read more information on the FDAs stance on Actos.

Although Actos has been on the market for years, it was not until August 2011 that the manufacturer of the dangerous drug, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, revamped its warning label to include this possible risk. The new label indicates that developing Actos bladder cancer is a potentially harmful side effect for individuals that have taken the pill for more than one year, but this does not help people already injured or who have already developed bladder cancer.

This is currently Actos multidistrict litigation ongoing throughout the United States, and our Actos attorney is available for legal representation regarding present and future Actos lawsuits.

Fda Warns About Mesh Complications

In Oct. 2008, the FDA warned that it had received 1000 reports fromnine separate vaginal mesh manufacturers of complications with meshproducts used in the surgical repair of POP and SUI. These complicationsincluded, but were not limited to the following:

• Mesh erosion
• Pain, including pain during sex
• Recurrence of prolapse or incontinence
• Blood vessel, bladder and bowel perforation during insertion
• Vaginal scarring

Nearly three years after its initial warning about vaginal meshcomplications, the FDA updated its safety communication warning thatcomplications associated with the surgical repair of POP with a meshproduct are not rare, as it had initially reported.

The agency warnedthat transvaginal POP repair with a mesh may put patients at a greaterrisk for complications than other treatments with this greater exposurecomes no evidence of a greater clinical benefit, such as an improvedquality of life, according to the FDA.

The FDA found that the number of reports of complications continued toincrease since the 3-year period on which it previously reported . The agency received an additional 2800 reports ofcomplications associated with mesh products used to repair POP and SUIbetween Jan. 1, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2010.

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What Is The Problem

The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is nationally recognized as a class action law firm, but our attorneys are not filing an Actos class action. There are thousands of lawsuits involving Actos and bladder cancer, but these are not consolidated into a class action. Instead, they are individual claims filed by people who hired an attorney.

World Health Organization Reports

Additionally, the World Health Organization and the Environmental Protection Agency have determined that NDMA found in Zantac is a probable human carcinogen. Medical science has found exposure to the toxic N Nitrosodimethylamine to cause numerous forms of cancer in laboratory rats through the World Health Organization.

High levels of NDMA might cause cancer, and if you took ranitidine products found to contain this, then you could be at risk of cancer. Zantac and generic drugs with NDMA contamination like ranitidine meds may lead to serious personal injury and even end up getting diagnosed with cancer.

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Zantac Stomach & Bladder Cancer Class Action

Popular heart burn medication Zantac has been recently involved in a class action lawsuit that alleges unhealthy levels of a carcinogen that may lead to cancer. In September, the Food and Drug Administration reported that they found N-nitrosodimethylamine in Zantac. NDMA is a probable carcinogen, according to the FDA, that can cause short term and long term damage to the body. Plaintiffs are accusing drugmakers Sanofi and Boerhringer Ingelheim of manufacturing and selling the product even after knowing the potential dangers that it caused.

If you or a loved one have used Zantac and have been diagnosed with stomach or bladder cancer after using this product, you may have a claim. We want to speak with you. There is no cost to speak with your attorneys about your claim.

How Do I Know If My Medication Was Recalled

The best way to find out whether your valsartan medication was recalled is to check the FDAs list of recalled blood pressure medications here. You can find more information on how to use the database and where to find your medications lot number and other identifying information over on our blog.

You can also reach out to your pharmacist or the FDAs Division of Drug Information by emailing or calling 1-855-543-DRUG to see if your medication was recalled.

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Actos Linked To Increased Risk Of Bladder Cancer

Actos is a popular prescription medication approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1999 for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes, due to its ability to increase the bodys sensitivity to insulin. Since its entered the market in the United States, Actos has become one of the most widely used diabetes medications available. However, serious concerns have been raised about the safety of Actos, in the midst of mounting research potentially linking the diabetes drug to an increased risk of bladder cancer side effects in patients. In September 2010, the FDA announced that it was investigating the alleged link between Actos and bladder cancer, based on preliminary data from an ongoing 10-year study, which suggested that Actos users may have an increased risk of developing the potentially deadly cancer after one year of use.

Has There Been A Zantac Settlement

There have been no Zantac settlements or jury verdicts yet. Typically, bellwether trials help plaintiffs and defendants understand how much a case may be worth.

Potential settlement amounts are based on a claimants injuries, monetary damages and other unique factors. Lawyers speculate that individual Zantac lawsuit payouts could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars because people who took Zantac could claim the drug caused cancer.

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Fda And Government Actions Regarding Actos

The FDA approved Actos for the mass market in 1999, which was followed by Actoplus Met in 2005 and Actoplus Met XR in 2009. Manufacturer Eli Lilly worked with Takeda to market Actos, which became one of the most wildly successful medications for diabetes, earning $4.3 billion in global revenue in 2010.

The following year, however, the FDA told Takeda that their warning label for Actos had to be revised to include language regarding the increased risk of bladder cancer if the drug is used for longer than a year.

Alarmed, the FDA required Takeda to conduct a 10-year study of the link between Actos use and a higher incidence of bladder cancer. In 2016, the FDA published an updated notice, which stated the following:

As a result of an updated review, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has concluded that use of the type 2 diabetes medicine pioglitazone may be linked to an increased risk of bladder cancer. The labels of pioglitazone-containing medicines already contain warnings about this risk, and we have now approved label updates to describe the additional studies we reviewed. We alerted the public about the possible risk of bladder cancer in September 2010 and June 2011 based on interim results from a 10-year epidemiologic study. We changed the labels of pioglitazone-containing medicines in August 2011 to include warnings about this risk, and required the manufacturer to modify and continue the 10-year study.

Zantac Bladder Cancer Lawsuit Cases

Zantac bladder cancer lawsuit and settlement cases potentially being investigated include claims of individuals who took Zantac that was the subject of a recall and suffered serious injuries, side-effects or complications, including a diagnosis of bladder cancer:

• Bladder cancer
• Cancer of the urinary bladder
• Carcinoma of the urinary bladder
• Malignant neoplasm of the bladder
• Squamous cell carcinoma of the bladder
• Adenocarcinoma of the bladder
• Small cell carcinoma of the bladder
• Spindle cell carcinoma of the bladder
• Sarcoma of the bladder
• Metastatic bladder cancer

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Actos Diabetes Drug And Lawsuit Allegations

Lieff Cabraser represents 90 patients nationwide who took the prescription drug pioglitazone, sold under the brand name Actos, and who developed bladder cancer. The drug was also marketed and sold under the names ACTOplus met and ACTOplus met XR.

Physicians prescribe Actos to treat patients with Type 2 Diabetes. Japan-based Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, Ltd. is the manufacturer of Actos.

Manufacturers of prescription drugs have a duty to patients to produce safe products and to warn patients and their doctors of any adverse health effects. The individual lawsuits filed by the Actos patients who we represent that Takeda violated both of these duties and, as a result, that Takeda is legally responsible for the bladder cancer that they developed.

Types Of Cancer Linked To Zantac

People who took contaminated Zantac and ranitidine-containing drugs are filing lawsuits for 12 types of cancer, including stomach, intestine and bladder cancer. Here is a full list of cancer types and the associated symptoms.

Each Zantac user’s cancer risk will depend on a number of factors, including:

• The level of NDMA in the Zantac and/or ranitidine products they used
• The length of time they used NDMA-containing Zantac
• Individual health conditions

At this time, neither the U.S. Food and Drug Administration nor Zantac manufacturers have estimated the true cancer risk of Zantac. However, the FDA has estimated the cancer risk for NDMA-contaminated valsartan, a blood pressure drug. The agency determined that one additional cancer case would occur for every 8,000 people who took the drug for four years. It is unknown if Zantac would have a similar outcome.

According to Valisure’s data, Zantac contains enough carcinogen to cause cancer in lab animals.

A doctor can help estimate a person’s individual risk and appropriate level of vigilance in watching for signs of cancer. If you develop cancer after taking Zantac, our attorneys can determine if you are eligible to file a lawsuit.

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This Is A Class Action Right

While class action lawsuits have been filed to help the thousands of patients who purchased recalled valsartan medications, attorneys working with ClassAction.org are interested in filing individual lawsuits on behalf of those who were diagnosed with cancer due to their use of the drug.

The main difference is that class action lawsuits are seeking compensation for the cost of the medication for a large group of people, while individual lawsuits are seeking larger sums of money for medical bills, lost wages and other losses specific to ones situation. You do not need to have been diagnosed with cancer to participate in any settlement resulting from the class actions, but you will need a diagnosis to proceed with an individual lawsuit.

You can learn more about the differences between these two types of lawsuits here.

Caveats To Zantac Settlement Amount Projections

I have already made this point but I will make it again. These projected Zantac settlement amounts are just that projected. So much can happen in this litigation. If the MDL accepts the plaintiffs science of the connection between Zantac and cancer generally and jurors punish these defendants like I think they would, these settlement amounts could be rather low. The MDL judge/California state court judge could dismiss all the Zantac lawsuits. Either scenario is possible.

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Contact Our Actos Bladder Cancer Lawyers

If you were diagnosed with bladder cancer after using Actos, contact our dangerous drug lawyers for a free, confidential consultation . See also my pages about How Do I File An Actos Claim Or Find A Good Actos Lawyer?, and News and Information page, and my article about the lawyer advertising for lawsuits.

Types Of Actos Lawsuits

There are several ways to approach Actos litigation. Multidistrict litigation is a federal pleading that consolidates cases from multiple states that share a similar basis of fact. By grouping cases together, courts keep the discovery process from becoming repetitive, and the legal process goes faster for everyone.

A flawed medication falls under a type of negligence called pharmaceutical liability, which is a type of defective product. When a medication is under judicial review, it should fall under one of these categories:

1. The drug was improperly marketed2. The drug had dangerous side effects3. The drug was defectively manufactured

There are no current MDLs for Actos. There was a case a number of years ago that was instructed to stop accepting individual lawsuits in 2017 there were more than 5,000 federal cases consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. Nine of these cases went to trial, resulting in verdicts against Takeda for a total of more than $22 million.

Enjuris tip:

Nearly all of the Actos litigation centered around one claim: that the manufacturer knew about the increased risk of bladder cancer, but they failed to warn the public and sold the drug anyway.

Other claims described conditions like:

• Liver failure
• Congestive heart failure

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Vaginal Mesh Complications: Eroded Mesh Infection

Surgical meshes have been used on thousands of women to treat pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence . These conditions are a result of the relaxation of tissues that hold the bladder, bowels, and reproductive organs in place, causing them to slide forward and downwards. This can place pressure on the bladder, causing incontinence, and cause vaginal prolapse. Organs may prolapse close to or even outside the vaginal opening. This condition is not only unsightly and distressing it can cause severe discomfort and disrupt sexual function. Transvaginal mesh is often used to reinforce the weakened vaginal walls and give support to the pelvic organs.

Pelvic organ prolapse repair surgery can be performed through the abdomen or the vagina, using stitches or a surgical mesh to reinforce the repair and to support the pelvic organs. According to the FDA, the transvaginal placement of the surgical mesh may put women at a greater risk for POP mesh complications than other surgical options. In addition, the agency claims that with the exposure to greater risk comes no indication of greater clinical benefit in women electing to undergo pelvic organ prolapse repair surgery transvaginally.

The following are among the vaginal mesh complications reported by womenwho underwent pelvic organ prolapse repair surgery with a trans vaginalmesh:

• Mesh erosion
• Contraction or shortening of the vagina
• Discomfort

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What Is The Case Plaintiffs’ Lawyers Are Making In The Zantac Lawsuits

Plaintiffs lawyers in the Zantac cases are making a lot of allegations of negligence and bad conduct. But, at core, the claim is that Plaintiffs claims can be, at best, distilled into allegations that the design of Zantac/ranitidine is inherently defective due to the risk of formation of NDMA. Accordingly, there should have been a warning telling doctors and patients of this risk.

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