As the number of Actos lawsuits has continued to grow during 2011, federal courts have taken steps to ensure that the cases do not create a judicial log-jam.
The first lawsuits against Takeda Pharmaceuticals were filed in August 2011, only weeks after the FDA required the Actos manufacturer to beef up the warning on the drug, to disclose the link between Actos and bladder cancer. The FDA’s decision came sooner than most observers had predicted, since the FDA was following a ten-year long Actos study that would not be completed until 2016. After the interim results of the first five years were disclosed, the FDA took prompt action.
This interim study and the FDA’s mandate convinced many plaintiffs that there was enough evidence to file lawsuits against Takeda. These public announcements related to the link between Actos and bladder cancer also may also start the clock running on many Actos’ victims statutes of limitations. Accordingly, plaintiffs around the country have begun filing lawsuits against the maker of Actos, seeking compensation for their bladder cancer.
In addition to suits against Takeda (the drug’s manufacturer), many of the lawsuits also name Eli Lilly & Co. as a defendant, based on Lilly’s joint venture with Takeda in the early stages of the marketing of Actos. It is somewhat troubling that Lilly was able to reap profits on the marketing of this drug used to treat diabetes. During many of those same years, Lilly was facing thousands of lawsuits from the users of Lilly’s anti-psychotic drug Zyprexa, which was shown to have caused thousands of cases of diabetes. Many Zyprexa plaintiffs were ultimately prescribed Actos to treat their diabetes.
Lawsuits have been filed in many jurisdictions across the country, and at this early stage of the litigation, it is uncertain where the vast majority of the cases will be consolidated. Federal cases have been filed in the Eastern District of Louisiana and many other trial court jurisdictions, but the site of the original filings typically have very little influence on the choice of where the cases are consolidated under the rules applicable to Multi-District Litigation proceedings.
Under the MDL rules, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation will select a single federal court to manage all individual personal injury claims based on Actos usage. Rather than defer to the federal court where the first Actos lawsuit was filed, the Judicial Panel will decide the most convenient forum for most of the parties and witnesses involved in the litigation, also giving consideration to which federal judges are willing to undertake the massive undertaking of a pharmaceutical MDL proceeding. The Panel has scheduled a hearing on December 1, 2011 to determine whether to appoint an Actos MDL judge, and, if so, which judge will be appointed.
