The National Trial Lawyers
  • Home
    • Meet Our Team
    • Contact Us
    • Mission & Goals
    • FAQ
  • Webinars
  • News
  • Membership Directory
    • Top 100 Map – Civil Plaintiff
    • Top 100 Map – Criminal Defense
    • Top 40 Under 40 Map – Civil Plaintiff
    • Top 40 Under 40 Map – Criminal Defense
  • Top 100
    • Civil Plaintiff Officers / Executive Committee
    • Criminal Defense Officers / Executive Committee
    • Benefits
    • About
    • Top 100 President’s Message
    • Diplomat
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Top 100 Badge
    • Media
  • Top 40
    • Civil Plaintiff Officers / Executive Committee
    • Criminal Defense Officers / Executive Committee
    • Top 40 Under 40 Trial Academy Bootcamp
    • Benefits
    • About
    • Top 40 President’s Message
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Top 40 Badge
    • Media
  • Specialty Assoc
    • About
    • Shop
    • Officers
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Media
  • Nominate
    • Top 100
    • Top 40
    • Specialty Association
    • Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame
    • Trial Lawyer of the Year
    • Trial Team of the Year
    • America’s Most Influential Trial Lawyer
    • America’s Most Influential Law Firm
    • Lifetime Achievement Award
  • Shop
  • Magazine
    • A-List
  • Education and Networking Agenda
    • Trial Lawyers Summit
      • Summit Sponsors
    • Top 40 Under 40 Trial Academy Boot Camp
    • Mass Torts Made Perfect
    • The Lanier Master Class 5.0 Trial Academy 2021
    • Webinars
  • Hall of Fame
    • Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame

Testosterone Litigation Rising Amid Claims of Heart Attacks and Strokes

Posted on May 16, 2016 by Larry Bodine
law news, legal news, verdict, settlement

Manufacturers of testosterone therapy drugs put out ubiquitous print, television and internet advertising, asking men to speak with their doctors about “Low T.”

Nearly 5,000 Testosterone lawsuits have been filed against drug manufacturers including AbbVie Inc., Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, and Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. as part of multidistrict litigation docket 4525 (MDL) in the Northern District of Illinois.

Men who have used testosterone replacement drugs such as Androgel, Axiron, and Fortesta, allege that the drug makers manufactured and marketed testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) products that caused injuries, including heart attack, stroke, pulmonary embolism, and deep vein thrombosis.

Lawsuits filed by health insurers alleging the pharmaceutical companies caused them to pay for medically unnecessary uses of TRTs are also included in the MDL.

Rapid growth of TRT use and lawsuits

The MDL was established in June 2014 and initially included only eight separate lawsuits.  The rapid growth to thousands of cases coincides with the dramatic rise in use of testosterone.  Prescription sales of TRTs have increased from $18 million in 1988 to $1.6 billion in 2011 as the percentage of men over 40 using TRTs has tripled during the same period.

MassTortNexus.com maintains a detailed database for trial attorneys including motions, orders, forms and filings in the testosterone MDL.

Testosterone products were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat medically low testosterone levels, but have stated that testosterone products should not be used in men who are experiencing reduced testosterone due to aging.

However, studies have linked the use of testosterone drugs to an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and death.  A 2010 study found that men taking testosterone drugs compared to men taking a placebo were five times as likely to experience severe heart problems such as congestive heart failure.

Unproven treatment causing severe heart problems

Further, testosterone therapies are not proven treatments, and no proof exists that TRTs benefit healthy men.  Dr. Adriane Fugh-Berman of Georgetown University Medical Center stated that testosterone therapy “offers no proven benefits for healthy men.  Low T [testosterone] syndrome is invented by pharmaceutical companies to sell treatment products.”

For more, read Low-T: Creating a Problem, Manufacturing a Cure

The rise in sales suggest that TRTs are being marketed and used for off-label purposes by men with no medical need for it including use “extensively in attempts to relieve symptoms in men who have low testosterone for no apparent reason other than aging,” said the FDA.

The TRTs are popular among older men to counter the signs of aging and among younger men seeking physical enhancement.

FDA required warnings and research

In response to the research and an FDA investigation conducted in 2014, the FDA directed manufacturers to conduct additional research and required drug makers warn patients that the products may increase the risk for heart attacks and strokes.

The men who filed lawsuits claim that the TRT products were deliberately marketed toward aging men.  The lawsuits also allege that drug makers invented a disease and used fraudulent and aggressive marketing campaigns to sell TRTs for off-label uses yet failed to adequately test the safety of their products despite known, but intentionally unadvertised, cardiovascular risks.

Most of the lawsuits have been brought against AbbVie Inc., makers of Androgel, which is the most heavily marketed and widely used TRT.  Six bellwether trials are scheduled to begin in October 2016 and continue until April 2017.  The second bellwether group for other TRT drugs is not expected to begin until late 2017.

The case is In re: Testosterone Replacement Therapy Products Liability Litigation, case number 1:14-cv-01748, MDL number 2545, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

 

Posted in Blog, Personal Injury, Product Liability

Comments are closed.

News Categories

Subscribe to Blog and VFJ via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog, the Voice for Justice and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Read about other Top Jury Verdicts

Toyota Will Pay $180M to Settle Violations of the Clean-Air Act

Toyota Will Pay $180M to Settle Violations of the Clean-Air Act

The U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that the United States has[Read More...]
Boeing's Insitu Will Pay $25M to Settle a Whistleblower Complaint About Used Drone Parts

Boeing's Insitu Will Pay $25M to Settle a Whistleblower Complaint About Used Drone Parts

Bingen, Wash.-based Insitu, a Boeing subsidiary, has agreed to pay $25 million to settle allegations that it used recycl[Read More...]
Deutsche Bank Agrees to Settle Criminal and Civil Charges for $130M

Deutsche Bank Agrees to Settle Criminal and Civil Charges for $130M

DEUTSCHE Bank AG agreed to pay US$130 million to settle criminal and civil charges that it bribed foreign officials and manip[Read More...]
Boeing Pays $2.5B to Settle Charges Tied to the 737 MAX Crashes

Boeing Pays $2.5B to Settle Charges Tied to the 737 MAX Crashes

Boeing has agreed to pay just over $2.5 billion to resolve a federal charge of “criminal misconduct” for how its [Read More...]
Texas Attorney General Seeks $43M in Google Antitrust Lawsuit

Texas Attorney General Seeks $43M in Google Antitrust Lawsuit

The mass exodus of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's top staff over accusations of bribery against their former boss has le[Read More...]

#LegalNews

@@TheNTLtop100

Contact Us | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

Attorney information and content provided on this website is provided for the benefit of members of The National Trial Lawyers and as a public service by Legal Associations Management, Inc. The website and all data are the property of Legal Associations Management, Inc. Data, including without limitation attorney information and content, on the site may not be mined, sold, or used commercially for any purpose without the explicit written consent of Legal Associations Management, Inc. This site may not be accessed by any automated program for extracting data for any use. By accessing and using the site you agree that you will not develop, support or use software, devices, scripts, robots, or any other means or processes (including crawlers, browser plug-ins and add-ons, or any other technology) to scrape data or otherwise copy profiles and other data. Unauthorized use or attempted unauthorized use of this system may subject you to both civil and criminal penalties.