Class Action Commenced Against Diabetes Drug Manufacturers And Distributors: Toronto Woman Prescribed Actos Dies From Bladder Cancer

TORONTO, December 21, 2011- Today, the law firm of ROCHON | GENOVA LLP issued a class action on behalf of users of a diabetes drug ACTOS (pioglitazone hydrochloride) against the manufacturers and distributors of ACTOS, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, and its affiliates, and Eli Lilly.
ACTOS was approved for sale in Canada in August, 2000 to control blood sugar levels in people with Type 2 (non insulin-dependant) diabetes. A June 2011 study reported to the FDA found a clear link between pioglitazone and increased bladder cancer risk. As a result, the FDA in the U.S. issued a warning, now incorporated on the drug’s label, that use of ACTOS for more than one year may be associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer. French and German drug regulators suspended sales of ACTOS entirely following the results of similar studies in those countries.
The class action, filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, alleges, among other things, that the defendants knew or ought to have known that ACTOS materially increases the risks of bladder cancer and failed to disclose those risks in a timely manner and have failed to recall the drug. The proposed Representative Plaintiff for users of ACTOS is the Estate of a Toronto woman who passed away in April 2011 after an over two-year battle with bladder cancer. She had been prescribed ACTOS in 2002. Her daughter, a nurse in Toronto, is the proposed Representative Plaintiff representing the family members of those who are suffering or have died from bladder cancer attributable to ACTOS. “My mother suffered greatly and was often in excruciating pain from the time of her cancer diagnosis to her death. Given the other widely available alternatives to control Type 2 diabetes, my mother never would have taken ACTOS had she known that it would increase her risks of developing bladder cancer.”
The allegations raised in the claim have not yet been proven in court. The plaintiff and the prospective class members are represented by the Toronto based law firm of ROCHON | GENOVA LLP.

ROCHON | GENOVA LLP
121 Richmond St. W, Suite 900
Toronto, Ontario M5H 2K1
Telephone: 416-548-9874 or toll-free: 1-800-462-3864
Website address: www.rochongenova.com
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