Drug Safety Developments

Las Vegas trial centers on diabetes drug Actos

Quoted from http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/las-vegas-trial-centers-diabetes-drug-actos

 

Las Vegas trial centers on diabetes drug Actos

By Carri Geer Thevenot
Las Vegas Review-Journal

August 27, 2015

Billions of dollars are at stake in a Las Vegas trial that centers on two men who were diagnosed with bladder cancer after taking the diabetes drug Actos.

"When it comes to our medicines, we have the right to know the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth," attorney Robert Eglet told jurors Thursday. "And that's what this case is about."

Eglet represents Mary Iorio, the widow of Maurice Iorio, who once worked as a bailiff in Clark County District Court. Mary Iorio filed a product liability case in the same court in March 2014 against Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., the Japanese company that makes Actos, and the company's American subsidiaries.

The lawsuit claims Maurice Iorio, 74, died in November 2013 from complications of bladder cancer caused by the prescription drug pioglitazone, made by Takeda makes under the trade name Actos.

Iorio's case was consolidated with a case filed in June 2013 by George Decou, who also was diagnosed with bladder cancer after taking Actos.

Thousands of plaintiffs across the country have filed product liability lawsuits against Takeda. The company is accused of failing to inform consumers and medical professionals about the risk of bladder cancer associated with the use of Actos, which went on sale in the United States in 1999.

[Article continues at original source]

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AbbVie Challenges Fairness Of Upcoming Testosterone Trials

Quoted from http://www.forbes.com/sites/arleneweintraub/2015/08/17/abbvie-challenges-fairness-of-upcoming-testosterone-trials/

AbbVie Challenges Fairness Of Upcoming TestosteroneTrials

August 17, 2015

Nearly 2,000 men who believed they suffered heart attacks and other adverse events after taking testosterone have sued seven of the hormone’s manufacturers, and now the court handling the consolidated lawsuits has picked one of those companies to go on trial first: AbbVie, maker of the popular AndroGel. Six so-called bellwether trials will begin in October 2016, and lawyers representing AbbVie and the men who have sued the company have been instructed to pick 32 representative cases for potential trial over the next few months.

The selection of those bellwether cases has been quite contentious, juding from filings last week inthe U.S. District Court forthe Northern District of Illinois, which is handling the consolidated testosterone cases. AbbVie has filed to have several of the claims dismissed, and it’s pressuring the court to ensure the fairness of the process by being actively involved in selecting the first cases to go to trial, rather than leaving it up to the lawyers to do so. That has prompted a war of words with plaintiffs’ lawyers, some of whom are accusing the company of undue influence over the bellwether process.

First, a recap: The lawsuit alleges that AbbVie and other testosterone makers endangered healthy men by marketing the hormone to treat sexual dysfunction, age-related fatigue and other symptoms that go beyond what the product is approved by the FDA to treat (hypogonadism, a serious hormonal decline caused by disease or injury). The companies popularized the term “Low T” to describe the symptoms the products were marketedto treat.The plaintiffs allege that taking testosterone caused them to suffer heart attacks, strokes and other debilitating side effects.

[Article continues at original source]

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U.S. jury clears Eli Lilly in first Cymbalta withdrawal trial

Quoted from http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/08/eli-lilly-cymbalta-trial-idUSL3N10J00J20150808

U.S. jury clears Eli Lilly in first Cymbalta withdrawal trial

August 7, 2015

Eli Lilly on Friday was cleared of liability in the first trial involving claims that its antidepressant Cymbalta caused severe withdrawal symptoms, including suicidal thoughts and electric shock-like sensations, the company said.

Eli Lily has been sued by roughly 250 plaintiffs who say that the company downplayed warnings about symptoms that can occur when patients quit the popular drug, which has annual sales of about $3.9 billion. The trial this week on the lawsuit filed by Claudia Herrera in federal court in California is the first of four trials over Cymbalta withdrawal scheduled for this month. The trial started on Tuesday, and the jury returned its verdict on Friday.

"While Lilly is sympathetic to Ms. Herrera's conditions, we are pleased with the jury's verdict," Lilly spokeswoman Celeste Stanley said.

Lawyers for Herrera did not immediately return requests for comment.

[Article continues at original source]

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