A class action lawsuit was filed in September on behalf of a class of Actos users who allegedly developed bladder cancer as a result of the diabetes drug. The lawsuit, which was filed in United States District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana, seeks to recover damages from what it alleges was wrongful conduct on the part of Takeda Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly and Company in designing, manufacturing, and marketing of Actos.

The class action lawsuit came on the heels of an FDA safety alert and other revelations that Actos—also known by its generic name pioglitazone—may increase a user’s risk of cancer, particularly bladder cancer. According to the FDA, “An increased risk of bladder cancer was observed among patients with the longest exposure to Actos, as well as in those exposed to the highest cumulative dose.”

Separate from the Actos class action lawsuit, Girard Gibbs and others have filed numerous individual Actos lawsuits in what’s called a mass tort. Mass torts, unlike class actions, involve many individual personal injury lawsuits which have with similar allegations and the same defendant.