Dallas Actos Lawyer

If You Have Suffered Dangerous Side Effects from the Drug Actos, then You May Have the Right to Recover Compensation

Thousands of people throughout the United States have taken the drug Actos to try to control their blood sugar levels, leading to sales in excess of $4.7 billion. Unfortunately, the drug has caused dangerous and unpredicted side effects, including bladder cancer, that enable those who have been negatively affected to bring a claim against the manufacturer. However, most people simply don’t understand how drug injury lawsuits work.

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If you’ve suffered an injury stemming from the usage of Actos, then the Dallas Actos injury attorneys at Grossman Law Offices want to provide you with this informational page about Actos and other drug injuries. Only by informing yourself can you build a better understanding of whether or not you have the right to file a claim and how to proceed with doing so. We hope to address the following issues:

• What is Actos?
• Side Effects for Actos
• The correct and incorrect way to pursue an Actos injury claim
• How Drug Injury Claims Work
• The Difference Between Mass Torts and Class Action Lawsuits
• How Actos Lawsuits Work
• Do my Injuries Allow a Legitimate Lawsuit?

What is Actos?

An oral medication designed by Japanese company Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Actos allows people to control their blood sugar levels by reducing the liver’s insulin resistance. The generic name of Actos is pioglitazone, and it’s available from other manufacturers as well. Actos also cuts down the quantity of glucose in the body, as well as, withdrawal. While Actos was not specifically designed for people suffering from Type I diabetes, it is often taken with diabetes medications like insulin.

Side Effects for Actos

Actos has had unexpected effects on the public, causing Takeda to constantly edit and re-release its list of side effects. Currently the label on Actos warns of the following mild side effects:

• Headaches
• Sinus infection
• Cold-like symptoms
• Muscle stiffness and pain
• Sore throats

On the other hand, Actos can cause the following serious and debilitating side effects:

• Broken bones or fractures
• Liver problems
• Increased risk of bladder cancer
• Diabetic eye disease (macular edema)
• Heart failure
• Low blood sugar

Of the above side effect risks, the increased rate of bladder cancer has been by far the most damaging. Initially, Takeda did not list this threat among their side effects, spurring the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to release a drug safety communication on June 6, 2011 warning consumers about the hazard associated with prolonged usage of Actos and the increased the chances of acquiring bladder cancer. The FDA cited not only its own independent studies on the effects of Actos but buttressed their findings with another study conducted in France that found the exact same results. The findings created such a stir in France, that the French banned the drug’s sale and usage. After conducting its own tests on Actos, the German government has also recommended that doctors refraining from starting new patients on the drug.

The Correct and Incorrect Way to Pursue an Actos Injury Claim

Now that you know what Actos is, we will begin discussing how our Dallas Actos lawsuit lawyers at Grossman Law Offices go about pursuing a claim for one of our clients. Drug injury lawsuits are always highly complex due to the medical issues involved, but they can often be complicated further by vague statute of limitation periods, the challenges of multi-district litigation, and the intricacy of mass torts. In order to successfully handle such a claim, you need to turn to the guidance and knowledge of an experienced Dallas drug injury attorney.

The biggest question to be asked with a drug injury claim is how to manage the case? Most law firms take the easy road and opt for class action lawsuit in which the victim’s case is grouped with other similar claims and any settlement is divided equally among the victims, also known as plaintiffs. However, at Grossman Law Offices, we see this tactic as lazy legal work, and this is not the way we choose to pursue compensation for our clients in drug injury cases.

When a client comes to us with an Actos injury claim, we want to give him or her the best legal representation that our two decades of experience enables us to offer. Thus, we reject following the path of other firms into class action lawsuits and instead pursue a claim that will enable our client to receive fair and equitable compensation in accordance with the actual harm suffered. Anything less would not be doing our best for our clients.

How Drug Injury Claims Work

When a manufacturer releases a drug on the marketplace, just like any other product, it’s expected to function as advertised without causing dramatic, unexpected effects on the consumers using it. When you buy a car, you expect that its going to be able to drive down the road without suddenly exploding, and when you start taking a drug, you have reason to expect that it’s not going to make you sick or kill you. Thus, drug manufacturers are responsible for conducting thorough tests on their pharmaceuticals before releasing them on the product. Any side effects, whether minor or dangerous, must be listed on the packaging, warning any potential users.

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Although, the human body is a highly intricate piece of machinery; thus, it’s virtually impossible for drug manufacturers to detect every side effect that is going to arise with every drug they sell – even when those drugs are vigorously tested. Some random side effects are going to happen. However, when thousands of people develop a dangerous side effect after taking a drug, as allegedly has occurred with Actos, then the manufacturer has clearly failed in its duty to research and test the product, as well as, warn consumers. However, to prove that you deserve compensation for a drug injury, you won’t be able to rely on technicalities or your own word, but you will need to provide evidence that connects your injury to the drug. Moreover, you will need to be able to convince the court that the drug manufacturer either knew about the danger presented by the drug or should have known. After 20 years in this business, our Dallas Actos lawyers at Grossman Law Offices have learned that risk often takes a backseat to the all-mighty dollar in the drug business.

The Difference Between Mass Torts and Class Action Lawsuits

Usually, drug injury cases involve a huge challenge before the case even goes to court – there are usually a great number of victims who are all seeking compensation after one act of negligence by the defendant. It’s as if you’ve been in a car accident and are trying to seek compensation from the person who caused the wreck, but he or she managed to injure 100 other people. Not only are you battling with the defendant for the compensation you deserve, but you’re also competing with all of the other injured parties. If a car accident such a this went to court, then the judge would likely bring together all of the claimants and combine their lawsuits into one single claim. With a high volume of cases, the court system will usually do whatever it can to lessen the workload.

When there are many drug injury claims in reaction to one drug that is manufactured by a single company, then the court will do the same thing and consolidate all of the claims into one single lawsuit. However, there are two means of going about doing this: a class action lawsuit, or a mass tort. In a class action lawsuit, the claimants all have identical claims and causes of action. However, plaintiffs in a mass tort have the same cause of action but their own distinct claims.

To put this another way that’s easier to understand:

• Class Action: all claimants get equal shares of the settlement
• Mass Tort: each claimant gets a share of compensation in accordance with the harm suffered by him or her.

Class action lawsuits separate themselves from mass torts in two main ways: one attorney will represent all of the claimants in a class action lawsuit, and due to the equal shares allotted to each victim, many claimants will not receive compensation equivalent to their suffering. This first difference can create problems when the case is being filed in Nevada, but the injury occurred in Dallas. However, the second difference can caused an even greater dilemma for claimants.

To understand the problems with class action lawsuits, let’s take a look at an example of a class action lawsuit that went bad for the claimants. After Netflix boasted claims of one-day delivery and limitless rentals, a group of customers banded together to file a class action lawsuit for false advertising. Like what happens in many other class action lawsuits, Netflix chose to settle the case, arranging for a settlement of $4 million. However, the actual claimants each received only a coupon, while $2.5 million went to pay the costs of the class action lawsuit and lawyer’s fees. The only party to the lawsuit who made money was the lawyer handling the case, while all of the claimants saw their claims eroded by their choice to join into the class action lawsuit. While a class action lawsuit is a good idea in some legal situations, make no mistake – an drug injury lawsuit is not one of them. To pursue restitution after an Actos injury, a mass tort is a much better solution.

Representative Case

When it comes to mass tort cases, one representative case forms the legal foundation upon which all subsequent cases will be based. In a mass tort, either the initial plaintiff who files suit against the drug manufacturer or one of the first to do so will take the case to court. If the jury decides the defendant was negligent after hearing all of the evidence, then it will make a determination about how much compensation is owed to the plaintiff based upon evidence that has been presented detailing the extensive financial losses such as medical expenses and lost wages, as well as, mental anguish and pain and suffering. When the drug manufacturer has been grossly negligent in putting its pursuits of profit before the safety of the public by releasing a drug that it knows will cause harmful side effects without warning the public, then the court can also order punitive damages to punish the drug company.

Once the outcome of the representative case has been resolved, it will form the basis upon which the other cases in the mass tort will be settled. The relationship between the representative case and subsequent lawsuits is much akin to when the Supreme Court rules on a Constitutional question – all lower courts adapt the same ruling into law. Thus, if you’re filing an Actos injury lawsuit, your fate is directly linked to that of the representative case.

In many cases, once the drug manufacturer has been found liable in the representative case, the presiding judge will order that the manufacturer must place a certain amount of funds in trust to cover the claims filed by victims of the drug moving forward.

Statute of Limitations

In order to have the right to file any personal injury claim, the victim must have a “cause of action” born when the defendant neglected to perform a legal duty that was owed to the victim, allowing the claimant to seek compensation. However, this cause of action isn’t endless and in fact comes with a time limit, known as the statute of limitations. The cause of action and the ability of the claimant to pursue damages end when the statute of limitations ends – no matter how much the victim deserves compensation.

Depending upon the state and the nature of the personal injury, statutes of limitation tend to vary, but usually the statue of limitations on most causes of action in the United States is two years from the day the plaintiff suffered harm as a result of the breach of duty by the defendant. However, exactly when the statute of limitations begins in drug injury case is harder to pinpoint. Did the injury occur the first day the victim began taking the drug, the day the injuries became noticeable, or the day the victim first realized the injury resulted from the taking of Actos?

In order to make recovery possible for injured victims, the court makes its decision in this matter based upon reason. Over years and years of trying drug injury cases, common law has come to establish that the statute of limitations begins in a drug injury case upon the date that the victim should have reasonably known that his or her injuries were caused by the negligence of the defendant. In some drug injury cases, this date occurs when the drug manufacturer itself makes a public statement about the harmful side effects of the drug. However, in most cases, the statute of limitations in a drug injury case begins when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) makes a press release about the drug’s side effects, making the defendant’s negligence “common knowledge.” In terms of Actos, the FDA made a statement about the drug’s side effects on June 6, 2011. Thus, anyone wrongfully injured by Actos has until June 6, 2013 to file a claim.

When people are injured by prescription drugs, they’ve usually been using the drug for many years before the side effects come to light. By the time the victim learns of the hazard presented, the traditional statute of limitations has subsided. Thus, in order to allow for those injured to pursue damages, the state must allow for an exception, like starting the statute of limitations when knowledge of the drug’s danger becomes public. However, the defendants may still attempt to contest the extended statute of limitations, arguing that it should not apply to this case. Therefore, you need a skilled and experienced Dallas Actos drug injury attorney to contest the defendant’s claim and make sure the extended statute of limitations applies. The issue of the statute of limitations is further muddled by the likelihood of a multi-jurisdictional case.

Multi-District Litigation

Once the start of the statute of limitations has been settled, the next step is figuring out when it ends. The length of the statute of limitations can fluctuate from case to case. In Texas, for a drug injury, the victim has two years from the date of learning of the harm to file a claim, but in Arkansas that period extends to three years. The question is: which statute of limitations applies if the drug was manufactured in one state and the injury occurred in another or if drug injuries happen in multiple states, as is the case with Actos?

To deal with this dilemma, common law has established a procedure for settling jurisdiction differences in cases of multi-district litigation, opting to combine the procedures of the court in which the representative case is resolved and those of the individual claimants. The judge in the representative case carries a large load on his or her shoulders, for his or her decisions affect all subsequent cases. The jurisdiction of the representative case is not chosen at random, but it is usually picked out due to some procedural advantage offered by the court or because it’s the jurisdiction of the defendant’s home office. While this court will rule in all subsequent cases, it must jive its procedures with those of the victim’s home jurisdictions. Thus, the presiding judge will combine the rules of his or her court with those of the victim. The statute of limitations comes from the claimant’s home jurisdiction, but the rules of evidence, procedures, and recovery caps are all derived from the jurisdiction of the court in the representative case.

How Do I Get the Compensation My Injuries Merit?

Just because you have two years to file a personal injury claim after suffering an Actos injury, that doesn’t mean it’s wise to wait. Like we’ve already discussed, in order to account for all of the subsequent cases that will be filed after the representative case, the presiding judge usually orders the defendants to place a certain amount of money in trust. This means you’re literally racing all of the other victims in order to get the compensation you deserve before the money in trust has been exhausted.

If you don’t have significant experience in this legal field, it’s usually impossible to correctly process all of the intricacies of filing a claim. If you fail to follow the rules and procedures for filing a claim, your case will not see the light of a day in a courtroom, as it will be tossed out of court. You may have two years to file a claim, but if you wait that long, then the amount of money in trust will be gone. Moreover, placing a price tag on the suffering you’ve experienced is far more complex than it seems. You need experience to know the monetary value of pain and suffering and to accurately calculate the value of a lost life or health. Moreover, only a Dallas Actos drug injury lawyer with knowledge and expertise can successfully prove up the value of these damages in court. To protect your rights and ability to be compensated in a mass tort, you need aggressive and authoritative legal representation.

Can My Doctor be Held Liable too?

For practical and legal reasons, the drug manufacturer is usually the most viable defendant from whom those injured by Actos can seek compensation. When patients take a drug that has been tested and approved by the FDA, they have the expectation that it will be relatively safe. Granted, minor side effects will occur with any drug, for every action has an equal and opposite reaction. However, the types of side effects caused by Actos, bladder cancer, kidney failure, and broken bones fall well beyond what is reasonably expected by the public. Thus, when a drug causes these major complications, the manufacturer is the main culprit at fault.

The only other person whom the victim can blame is the doctor who prescribed the drug, but our Dallas Actos drug injury lawyers don’t recommend pursuing compensation from the doctor. Texas medical malpractice laws give doctors significant protection against lawsuits and greatly limit the recoverable compensation. In most drug injury cases, the doctor has committed no offense other than prescribing a drug. Most doctors keep track of any developments with drugs they prescribe, making it highly unlikely they would continue prescribing a drug that they knew to be harmful. The only event in which an Actos injury victim could file a lawsuit against the doctor who prescribed the drug is if the doctor knew of the increased danger of bladder cancer yet continued to prescribe the drug anyway when a reasonable doctor would not have. In drug injury cases, such a circumstance is extraordinarily rare. Most doctors who prescribe dangerous drugs do so unknowingly and only because the hazard presented by the drug has not been made public. However, if you can prove the doctor did know of the hazard presented by Actos and prescribed it anyway, then you can file a lawsuit against the doctor.

Many people who have been injured by dangerous drugs often wonder whether or not they can also being a lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration, since the FDA exists to protect the public from hazardous foods and drugs. That’s simply not the case. Federal government agencies received several exemptions from potential torts in the Federal Tort Claims Act of 1948, one of which was protection from lawsuits based upon a failure by a federal agency to fulfill a “discretionary function or duty.” Thus, the FDA cannot be held legally accountable for failing to protect the public from defective drugs or foods. Thus, legally, there are no grounds for filing a lawsuit against the FDA for an Actos injury. In reality, just like the doctor who unknowingly prescribes a dangerous drug, the FDA has done nothing wrong.

Do My Injuries Allow a Legitimate Lawsuit?

Whether or not you have a legitimate personal injury lawsuit after suffering dangerous side effects from Actos depends upon the circumstances of the case. If the drug company warns you about minor side effects, like sore throat or upset stomach, which you then develop, then you have no cause of action. For one thing, you were warned, and for another the harm caused by these side effects is not significant enough to warrant legal action. On the other hand, bladder cancer and kidney failure are very serious side effects that cost the victim dearly from a financial basis and may even have cost the victim his or her life. No reasonable person would expect such side effects from taking a drug designed to help him or her, so a claim against the drug manufacturer would be in order.

The Actos Drug Injury Attorneys at Grossman Law Offices Can Help

Now that we’ve explained the inner workings of a drug injury case, hopefully you will see the necessity of a skilled and seasoned Dallas Actos injury attorney. No two drug injuries are exactly alike, but to succeed with yours, you need someone who has significant experience handling other cases upon which to base judgment in yours.

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At Grossman Law Offices, our Dallas Actos lawsuits law firm has been dealing with personal injury and wrongful death cases for more than 20 years. We’ve delivered many millions of dollars to hundreds of injured victims, and we have confidence that we have the knowledge and ability to secure the compensation you deserve, as well. To find out how we can help you, call now for a free consultation at 1-855-326-0000. After we’ve heard the facts of your case, we can help you determine whether or not you have a claim and how to move forward from here.

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