Cooper

INTRODUCTION

The defendants are Takeda Pharmaceuticals America, Inc., Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. (formerly Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Inc.), and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, referred to collectively as “Takeda.”1 In coordinated litigation, numerous plaintiffs have sued Takeda, manufacturers of the prescription drug Actos® (the trade name for pioglitazone HCl tablets), which is used to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus. Jack Cooper and Nancy Cooper are plaintiffs in one of the coordinated cases and alleged that Jack Cooper developed bladder cancer from ingesting the drug.2 The matter was tried to a jury in early 2013. The jury found Takeda liable on causes of action for strict liability failure to warn, negligent failure to warn, and loss of consortium. Specifically, the jury found that Takeda failed to adequately warn Jack Cooper’s treating physician of the risk of bladder cancer, and that this failure to warn was a substantial factor in causing his harm. The jury awarded damages to Jack Cooper of $5 million, and to Nancy Cooper in the amount of $1.5 million for loss of consortium. Before, during, and after trial, Takeda challenged the admissibility of…