Actos Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over Bladder Cancer Risk

A class action lawsuit (actos lawsuit) has been filed against Takeda Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly on behalf of all users of the diabetes drug Actos, seeking financial compensation and medical monitoring as a result of the drug makers’ failure to adequately warn about the risk of bladder cancer from Actos.

The Actos class action lawsuit was filed last month in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana on behalf of two users of the drug who developed bladder cancer, and one of their spouses. However, the complaint seeks class certification to include coverage for the millions of individuals who used Actos in the United States since it was introduced in 1999.

Actos (pioglitazone)

Actos (pioglitazone) is a prescription medication approved by the FDA for treatment of Type II diabetes. The drug increases the body’s sensitivity to insulin, and has increased in popularity in recent years, generating an estimated $4.3 billion in sales last year and becoming one of the ten best selling drugs in the United States.

FDA issued warnings

Recently, concerns have surfaced about a potential increased risk of bladder cancer from Actos. In June 2011, the FDA issued warnings indicating that use of Actos for more than one year has been associated with a bladder cancer risk. As a result of the high incidence of cancer identified, French drug regulators forced an Actos recall to be issued in that country, and many have suggested that Actos should be removed from the market in the United States as well.

In recent months, dozens of individuals throughout the United States have filed an Actos bladder cancer lawsuit, alleging that Takeda pharmaceuticals failed to adequately research their medication or warn about the potential risks associated with use.

Lawsuit over Actos filed on September 16

According to allegations raised in the class action lawsuit over Actos filed on September 16, Takeda had a significant financial incentive to suppress, misrepresent and conceal the potential dangers assocaited with Actos to maximize their profits at the expense of the health of patients taking the drug. As a result of the drug maker’s failure to appropriately disclose material information about the known risk of cancer from Actos, the complaint alleges that users did not have adequate information about the risks of using Actos and were therefore unable to avoid exposing themselves to a risk of injury.

“Clearly, the relationship between Actos and bladder cancer has been known, or should have been known, to Defendants,” the class action Actos complaint alleges. “Despite their knowledge, Defendants refused to inform patients, doctors or the medical community about the risks and put their profits before people.”

Plaintiffs indicate that they are bringing the Actos class action to recover money damages, medical monitoring and other relief for all individuals who ingested Actos in the United States or it’s territories since it was introduced in July 1999. Actos was taken by millions of people each week, resulting in a class that could include a millions if the complaint is certified.

U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation

The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation is expected to decide later this year whether the federal Actos litigation, which currently consists of more than 50 individual lawsuits and this one class action, should be centralized before one judge for pretrial proceedings. If the cases are consolidated, the cases would be managed in a manner similar to how an Actos class action suit would be handled during discovery and pretrial litigation. However, if an Actos settlement or other resolution is not reached, each case would be handled individually for trial.

Article: Actos Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over Bladder Cancer Risk
Article Source: BeElected.com
Author: Brown Eyesman

Actos Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over Bladder Cancer Risk

Tags; Actos Lawsuit; Actos Cancer; Bladder Cancer; Takeda Pharmaceuticals

Resources; Takeda Pharmaceuticals; Actos Lawsuit;Actos Cancer; Bladder Cancer

Kid Rock, who played Jiffy Lube Live in August with Sheryl Crow, announced Monday he’s going on a tour of mid-size clubs. Naturally, he’s playing another Live Nation venue, the new Fillmore in Silver Spring. Kid Rock is on the road promoting “Born Free,” which was released last year.

The show at the Fillmore is November 20. The announcement did not include ticket price or on-sale date. At another location, tickets started at $58.30.

After doing a bunch of European shows, Oxes is putting on a Baltimore show on November 5 at the G-Spot. Apparently, the band has two new vinyl records they’ll be putting out via Friends Records. Then, they go back to Europe on December 9, when they’ve been invited to perform at the All Tomorrow’s Parties curated by Battles, Caribou and Les Savy Fav.

Baltimore’s Ami Dang has joined up with Two Boots Pizza, now relocated to Mount Vernon, for a weekly music series on Saturday nights. The first night was this past Saturday, and featured Dave Fell and DJ IVDB. Wing Dam and Which Magic perform this Saturday and, on October 22, Dang and her drummer, Kate Levitt, will perform.

The weekly show is from 8:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. Admission is free; donations are encouraged.

Rams Head Live announced a couple of new shows also. The great Aimee Mann, who was in Baltimore in April, will perform at Rams Head on Stage in Annapolis January 23. Tickets are $45.

And, singer-songwriter Lyle Lovett, who is one of the artists to appear in the new Buddy Holly tribute album, will perform at Rams Head Live in Baltimore December 15. Tickets for that show are $45 and go on sale October 13.

The Goo Goo Dolls will stay on the road for a Fall tour. There are no dates in Maryland, but there are a few in the Mid-Atlantic – the band will be at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville October 26, The National in Richmond on November 7, the Soverign Performing Arts Center in Reading, PA November 8 and the Grand Opera House in Wilmington, DE November 9.

The band is out promoting new album “Something for the Rest of Us.” Tickets for the Charlottesville show start at $42.70.

Announced last week: Drake, who’ll release his second album “Take Care” next month, is embarking on a promotional Fall tour. He will perform at the Patriot Center in Fairfax November 15. Tickets, already on sale, start at $29.75.

Stuart Schuffman, who shot an episode of his IFC show “Young, Broke & Beautiful” in Baltimore in April, has shifted venues for the Baltimore reading of his new book, “Young, Broke & Beautiful: Broke-Ass Stuart’s Guide to Living Cheaply.”

He was originally scheduled to appear at Centerstage, but he will instead be at The Get Down on October 17. Schuffman has described the event as “1/2 book reading/signing/Q&A and 1/2 dance party.” Free, with donations are encouraged.

Article: Kid Rock, Oxes, Goo Goo Dolls, Ami Dang, Drake, and more
Article Source: Baltimore Sun
Author: Erik Maza

Kid Rock, Oxes, Goo Goo Dolls, Ami Dang, Drake, and more

The bill, while similar to one moving through the Senate, would allow more freedom to five Gulf Coast states affected by last year’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill to spend millions of dollars in BP fines headed their way, said Rep. Jeff Miller.

“It would give local governments more say in how and where the money is spent,” said Miller, the Republican from Chumuckla who represents Florida’s 1st Congressional District. “We believe that way the money will be spent more efficiently on more appropriate projects.”

Specifically, Miller said the House bill, unveiled at a news conference in Washington on Wednesday, is designed to limit the power of the federal government to dictate how the BP dollars are spent.

“It has provisions that provide more flexibility to spend the money on economic development instead of restricting it to environmental projects,” Miller said. “The biggest objection (to the Senate bill) for the House sponsors is that there’s not enough to be done to help the economy.”

The RESTORE the Gulf Coast Act bills in both chambers call for 80 percent of BP’s fines collected under the Clean Water Act to be dedicated to the restoration of the Gulf Coast ecosystem and the economies of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.

Rep. Steve Southerland, who represents Florida’s 2nd District, said the House’s version of the RESTORE Act could help soften the “historic environmental and economic” blow to the Gulf region.

“It is my hope that we can help accelerate the recovery of our coastal communities by directing Clean Water Act funds directly to the areas most critically impacted by the accident,” said Southerland, R-Panama City.

Southerland said the bill will not only address the environmental impact to the region, but also the economic impact to the counties along the Gulf directly impacted by the Deepwater Horizon spill in April 2010.

“Some of the funds will go to find out what impact the spill had on our fisheries,” he said.

35 percent

Under provisions of the House bill, 35 percent of the funds would be divided among the five Gulf states.

The bill also would make 30 percent of the money received available for “development and implementation of a comprehensive restoration plan,” according to a news release issued Wednesday.

The bill envisions the plan to be formulated and money allocated by a council composed of federal and state officials.

It calls for another 30 percent of funds to be allocated through an “impact driven formula” and disbursed “according to plans submitted by the Gulf Coast states and approved by the council.”

The final 5 percent of the funds would go toward establishing an endowment and centers of excellence to advance science and technology in the Gulf region.

Miller said last week that he wasn’t sure the Senate bill, which has passed out of one committee, would get anywhere in a chamber clogged by partisan politics. He repeated that opinion Wednesday.

“I don’t know if they could pass a resolution on Mother’s Day right now,” he said.

Miller said the House version “has a better chance of passing the House than the Senate bill would” because of the economic provisions included.

Under legislation sponsored by state Sen. Don Gaetz, 75 percent of whatever of BP’s fines that make it to Florida will go Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay, Gulf, Wakulla and Franklin counties.

It will be divided among the counties using a formula established by a recently formed regional coalition.

Article: Northwest Florida’s Area congressmen sign on to RESTORE Act
Article Source: News Herald
Author: TOM McLAUGHLIN

Northwest Florida’s Area congressmen sign on to RESTORE Act

BP has won another round in its ongoing feud with a shareholder of a Russian subsidiary as a Siberian court overturned a ruling related to searches of the company’s office in Moscow earlier this year.

The Arbitration Court in the city of Omsk found in favour of the UK supermajor in its appeal against a July ruling in a separate Russian court which allowed bailiffs to descend on the offices of BP Exploration Operating Company (BP EOC) on 31 August.

Monday’s ruling by the Omsk court overturns the 19 July ruling in Tyumen in favour of a minority shareholder in TNK-BP, the oil giant’s joint venture in Russia, even though that search order had itself been effectively quashed by the Tyumen court in mid September.

BP EOC wrote in a statement on Monday that it “believes that there was no merit to the [19 July] order of Judge Loskutov” as, amongst other reasons, “the claim to secure evidence from BP EOC should not have been reviewed by the Arbitration Court of Tyumen region since it falls under another court’s jurisdiction, namely the Moscow Arbitration Court”.

Bailiffs descended on the offices of BP EOC on 31 August, turfing staff out and occupying the building for two whole days. Although they did not take any documents away with them they sealed documents for later examination.

The raid was directly related to a case brought against BP in Tyumen by a minority shareholder of its joint venture in the country, TNK-BP, who was aggrieved by the collapse of BP’s $16 billion deal with Rosneft in May.

Monday’s ruling in favour of BP is another blow to TNK-BP minority shareholder Andrei Prokhorov who is looking to sue the supermajor for $4.9 billion over alleged losses suffered by the joint venture in the wake of the failed deal with Rosneft.

BP has consistently denied Prokhorov’s claims, saying “there were in fact no damages in the form of lost profits” for TNK-BP as the latter “was not considered as a possible member of the strategic partnership with Rosneft and could not become a partner ‘due to the lack of required competence’, as has frequently been stated by Rosneft.”

BP lashed the 19 July ruling further on Monday by claiming: “The judge accepted a claim from a person who was not entitled to request the securing of evidence prior to a lawsuit since A Prokhorov did not furnish proof that he or other claimants owned at least 1% of TNK-BP Holding shares, which is a prerequisite to file any lawsuit against members of the board of directors.”

The statement argued further: “The ruling was upheld despite the lack of proof of any need to secure the evidence in question. BP EOC believes that A Prokhorov did not provide justified proof that there is any threat of information loss or concealment.”

In mid September an arbitration court in Tyumen cancelled an order to search the Moscow premises of BP EOC after appeals were made by both the BP offshoot and Rosneft. That left the 19 July ruling still standing, however, which BP appealed, leading to Monday’s ruling.

Lawyers acting for TNK-BP told Upstream last month that they would appeal the mid-September Tyumen ruling but a spokesperson for the firm would not make any comment regarding Monday’s development in Omsk.

Article: BP EOC: BP in Russian office raid victory
Article Source: UP Stream Online
Author: Eoin O’Cinneide

BP EOC: BP in Russian office raid victory