Takeda will pay 2,400 million dollars to resolve thousands of demands presented by patients and relatives of these who assured that the drug acts (pioglitazone) that the pharmacist produces against diabetes caused bladder cancer, announced on Tuesday.
Takeda, which is a Japanese company, said that the agreement would resolve the vast majority of demands related to acts.He indicated that he will represent 2,700 million dollars less in profits to cover the extrajudicial agreement and the costs of defending the rest of the cases.
Almost 9 thousand claims against Takeda are still pending for bladder cancer associated with acts, according to lawyers of the plaintiffs.These lawyers had stated that Takeda hid the carcinogenic risk of the selling medication.
In a certain case last year, in Louisiana a jury ordered Takeda and Eli Lilly to pay between both exemplary damages for 9 billion dollars after determining that Takeda had hidden the risks of cancer.Subsequently the judge reduced the amount to 36.8 million.Lilly had collaborated in drug marketing.
"We are pleased that Takeda has agreed to deliver 2,400 million dollars to compensate thousands of bladder cancer victims," Richard J. Arsenault, one of the main lawyers of the active party on Tuesday."After years of difficult and contentious litigation, the plaintiffs have finally reached the goal, and we applaud their effort."
Takeda did not admit his civil responsibility, saying that he had accepted the agreement in order to "reduce the uncertainties of the litigation complex."The pharmaceuticals said that the claims of the demands were not merited and that the benefits of acts exceeded any risk.
"The decision that Takeda took extrajudicially negotiating does not modify the sustained commitment that the company has with acts," he said in a statement.Acts is sold in the United States, Japan and other countries.
The agreement will enter into force if 95 percent of the plaintiffs accept it, in which case Takeda would pay 2,370 million.If said figure rises to 97 percent of the plaintiffs, Takeda will pay 2,400 million.The amount delivered to individual complainants will depend on the particular circumstances, such as the accumulation of the dose of the medicine used, the magnitude of the injury and its background as smokers.