Closing arguments have been made in the first Actos bladder cancer lawsuit to go to trial. The plaintiff’s counsel told jurors that Takeda’s internal company e-mails confirm that the Japanese drug maker hid Actos bladder cancer risks from the public in order to increase its profits. The 79-year-old plaintiff, now dying of bladder cancer after taking Actos, is seeking $5.3 million in compensation.

Takeda’s Internal E-mails Likely To Be Damaging

Takeda continues to deny that its Type 2 diabetes drug, Actos, increases the risk of bladder cancer. However, the company’s internal e-mails about whether to do the right thing and provide additional warnings to the public via the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) are likely to be very damaging as the jury deliberates during this first trial.

According to Bloomberg News, the plaintiff’s lawyer, Michael Miller, produced numerous internal e-mails in which the company “urged colleagues to persuade the U.S. Food and Drug Administration not to demand increased warnings about bladder cancer on Actos’s label.” Miller also produced an email from Kiyoshi Kitazawa, a Takeda executive that reads, “ Actos is the most important product for Takeda and therefore we need to manage this issue very carefully and successfully not to cause any damage for this product globally…”

Even after FDA officials asked the drug maker in 2005 and 2006 to update warnings about Actos’s health risks, Takeda executives “stalled and delayed” because the company “was making $1.6 billion a year” on the drug at the time, Miller said. Sales of Actos peaked in 2011 at an astounding $4.5 billion a year and are consistently decreasing now that doctors, patients and the FDA know about the increased risk of developing Actos side effects, such as bladder cancer.

Have You Been Injured?

If you’ve developed bladder cancer after taking Takeda’s Actos, you might be entitled to compensation for your injuries that includes lost income, medical bills, physical and emotional pain and suffering and more. Contact The Driscoll Firm, LLC, today to discuss your situation and determine whether taking legal action against the manufacturer makes sense for you. We’ve recovered over $170 million for our clients taking on big pharmaceutical companies and will do our best to help you receive the compensation to which you may be entitled.