Pharmaceutical firm Takeda has been fined $6 billion for covering up health risks relating to bladder cancer associated with their popular type-2 diabetes drug ACTOS. Takeda’s partner, Pharma company Eli Lilly was fined $3 billion for its part in the cover up.
The firms were involved in a US court case where the prosecution alleged the companies to be guilty of destroying and deleting thousands of documents relating to cancer, side-effects and other health issues for Actos, or pioglitazone.
Worryingly, the drug has been used for 15 years since1999 and has achieved over $16 billion in sales.