Takeda Agrees to Pay $2.4 Billion to Settle Actos Bladder Cancer Lawsuits

Takeda Pharmaceuticals has agreed to pay $2.4 billion to settle the Actos bladder cancer lawsuits in a global settlement agreement. The Actos bladder cancer settlement is the largest single mass tort settlement for a drug that is still currently on the market.

Takeda Pharmaceuticals, which manufactures the drug, and lead plaintiffs’ counsel, including Tor Hoerman, reached an agreement that will resolve all 9,200 pending lawsuits in the United States as well as a number of not yet filed cases. In addition to cases filed in Cook County, cases will be resolved that were filed in a federal court in Louisiana and other state courts, including several hundred cases consolidated in California state court.

The Actos settlement will compensate plaintiffs who allege that they were diagnosed with bladder cancer as a result of their use of Actos. Takeda Pharmaceuticals has not admitted wrongdoing.

Tor Hoerman was appointed as Plaintiffs’ Co-Lead Counsel along with Pete Flowers from Meyers & Flowers, Allen Schwartz from Kralovec, Jambois and Schwartz and Tommy Fibich from Fibich, Leebron, Copeland, Briggs & Josephson. In his role as co-lead counsel for the 3,900 plaintiffs in Cook County, Hoerman coordinated and argued the plaintiff’s case in the courtroom of the Honorable Judge Deborah Mary Dooling, Circuit Court of Cook County.

In addition to his role as co-lead counsel, Hoerman was also appointed as one of Plaintiffs’ Negotiating Counsel and worked to secure the settlement announced today.  Hoerman noted,

I am proud, humbled and honored to have worked with such great lawyers on this case for the last several years of my career to achieve this result.  Most importantly, I am delighted that there will finally be compensation for the many individuals and families that have suffered the effects of bladder cancer.

As of the filing of the master settlement agreement today, an estimated 9,200 cases are eligible to participate in the settlement of $2.4 billion. The settlement agreement includes cases that have not yet been filed but involve an alleged injury of bladder cancer that occurred prior to April 28, 2015.