The opening hearing in the multidistrict federal lawsuit against the manufacturer of Actos will be held about eight months after the first suit was filed against the company. A judge with the U.S. District Court of Louisiana who has been assigned to preside over the combined lawsuits issued an order on Feb. 13 that scheduled a status conference to be held March 22.

The conference will be the first court action in the litigation against Takeda Pharmaceuticals American Inc., the U.S. arm of the Japanese pharmaceutical company that created and manufactures Actos. The drug is marketed as a treatment for diabetes patients, but several users say they developed bladder cancer as a result of taking it. Takeda faces thousands of already filed and potential lawsuits from patients who accuse the company of selling the drug despite the cancer risk. The company is also accused of covering up information about the connection between Actos and bladder cancer, and of failure to warn doctors and patients.

In her order, the judge said she planned to appoint lead attorneys to oversee the federal cases, which were consolidated due to the similarity of their claims. Thousands more patients have filed lawsuits at the state level in California and Illinois. The first lawsuit against Takeda related to a case of bladder cancer allegedly due to Actos was filed in July 2011.

Researchers have found that taking the drug for more than a year increases a patient's risk of developing bladder cancer, which is potentially fatal and can require invasive surgery to treat.

Source: Bioscience Technology, "Judge sets 1st hearing for diabetes drug lawsuits," Michael Kunzelman, Feb. 14, 2012