April 29, 2015 — Takeda Pharmaceuticals Co. has offered to settle the “vast majority” of lawsuits involving Actos for $2.37 billion, according to Bloomberg.
If 95% of claimants opt-in to the settlement, each would receive a $296,000 payout that could be reduced depending on factors like age, smoking history, and toxin exposure.
The $2.4 billion settlement is dwarfed by the eye-popping $9 billion verdict handed down by a federal jury in Louisiana last year. It was the seventh-largest jury verdict in U.S. history, but later slashed to $37 million under state laws capping punitive damages.
Just before that case went to trial, evidence emerged that Takeda had destroyed massive amounts of documents on 46 current and former employees involved in the development and marketing of Actos. The federal judge overseeing the litigation told the jury they were allowed to infer that those documents contained critical evidence.
Takeda is still facing about 4,300 lawsuits in a federal court in Louisiana, plus individual lawsuits in state courts in Illinois, West Virginia, California, and Pennsylvania, according to court documents. Out of nine lawsuits that have gone to trial, Takeda has lost five.
The proposed settlement is one of the largest in U.S. history against a pharmaceutical company accused of failing to warn users about a known side effect. Four years ago, the FDA issued a Safety Communication to warn that Actos could boost a user’s risk of bladder cancer by 40% after 12 months.
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The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is currently accepting Actos induced injury cases in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know has been diagnosed with bladder cancer, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Defective Drug Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.
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