Takeda's $2.37 billion settlement over Actos didn't attract enough claimants to participate in the deal

Aug 18 2015

MT Services LLC, a Lawsuit Settlement News Reporting Company which operates lawsuitsettlementnews.com, announced today that Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.'s $2.37 billion settlement didn't attract enough claimants to participate in the deal, which said the company would fund the deal after 95% of claimants joined it. However, by the deadline last week, only approximately 75% had signed up, according to Bloomberg News, leading to doubts about whether or not the deal would ultimately survive. The deadline has now been pushed to September 11^th for claimants to sign up for the settlement offer. The $2.37 billion settlement would result in settlement awards of more than $296,000 per case for plaintiffs who choose to participate in the settlement, but settlement amounts may be reduced depending on certain factors such as age, smoking history, and toxin exposure. Despite the settlement offer, Takeda denies Actos risks, and they are hoping to settle approximately 10K lawsuits against them of claims that Actos causes cancer.

The cases involved include approximately 3,500 lawsuits in Lafayette, Louisiana before U.S. District Judge Rebecca Doherty (In Re: Actos (Pioglitazone) Products Liability Litigation, 11-md-02299, U.S. District Court, Western District of Louisiana), and about 4,500 suits in California, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and West Virginia. Also according to Bloomberg, there are more cases "being held in abeyance while lawyers decide whether to add them to the settlement."

Chris Janish, CEO of MTS, commented on the recent news in the Actos settlement, "This is disappointing news for many Actos patients and their families who are in need of getting their settlement check this year. It now seems, at a minimum, that the settlement will be delayed and most payments will not be made until 2016."