Actos Litigation Over Bladder Cancer Consolidated in Federal MDL
According to an order issued last week by the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, the federal Actos litigation involving claims filed by individuals who developed bladder cancer after taking the popular diabetes drug will be centralized in the Western District of Louisiana for pretrial proceedings.
It is expected that hundreds of people throughout the United States will ultimately file an Actos bladder cancer lawsuit against Takeda Pharmaceuticals in various courts throughout the United States. The lawsuits all involve similar allegations that the drug maker failed to properly research their medication or warn that long-term use of Actos may increase the risk of bladder tumors.
With the formation of the Actos MDL, or multidistrict litigation, all cases filed in the federal court system will be consolidated before U.S. District Judge Rebecca Doherty for discovery and any early bellwether trials, which are often scheduled to help the parties gauge how juries are likely to respond to evidence that will be presented throughout the litigation.
Although an MDL is often equated with an Actos class action lawsuit, the cases do remain individual injury lawsuits, even though they are transferred to the same judge for pretrial litigation. If an Actos settlement agreement or other resolution for the litigation is not reached in the MDL, then the cases would be remanded back to the court where they were originally filed for trial.
Unlike a class action, the federal Actos bladder cancer litigation claims involve unique damages for each claimant, since each individual will be impacted by the injury in a different way. Therefore, the outcome of the litigation can not be determined through the trial of a class-representative, as would be done in a class action suit.
ACTOS CASE EVALUATION
With the Actos MDL just being formed, the litigation remains in the early stages. The Actos lawyers at Saiontz & Kirk, P.A. are continuing to review potentail lawsuits for individuals throughout the United States who have been diagnosed with bladder cancer after using type 2 diabetes medication.
To review a potential Actos case for yourself, a friend or family member, request a free consultation and claim evaluation.
