QUESTION
What is the Latest Status Update for the Testosterone Therapy and AndroGel Litigation?
ANSWER
Following the publication of several independent studies and FDA warnings about the risk of cardiovascular problems from testosterone treatments, more than 6,000 Androgel lawsuits, Testim lawsuits, Axiron lawsuits and other claims have been filed against manufacturers of testosterone replacement therapy drugs, alleging that the medications were aggressively marketed to men who had little or no need for the treatments, while withholding information about important safety risks.
Given similar questions of fact and law presented in cases filed throughout the federal court system, the testosterone litigation was centralized before U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly in the Northern District of Illinois in June 2014, for coordinated discovery and pretrial management.
Known as the testosterone MDL (multidistrict litigation), the consolidated proceedings have involved several “bellwether” pools, with representative cases against different manufacturers prepared for early trial dates, which are designed to help gauge how juries may respond to certain evidence and testimony that may be repeated throughout the litigation.
All of the lawsuits involve similar allegations, indicating that men suffered heart attacks, strokes, blood clots or other serious, and sometimes fatal injuries, as a result of side effects of testosterone drugs.
In July 2017, the first jury to hear evidence in a testosterone therapy lawsuit indicated that AbbVie, the maker of Androgel, should be required to pay $150 million in punitive damages, which were designed to punish the pharmaceutical company for fraudulent misrepresentations about the safety of their treatment.
While the verdict was overturned during post-trial motions, and a new trial was ordered, the award provided clear signals about the potential liability drug makers may face if they fail to reach testosterone settlements.
In October 2017, a second jury awarded a combined total of $140 million in compensatory and punitive damages to one plaintiff in another bellwether trial over Androgel testosterone therapy. However, dozens of additional cases are being prepared for bellwether trials through 2018 and 2019.
Join the Androgel Litigation
While the early bellwether verdicts are not binding on other plaintiffs, evidence strongly suggests that the drug manufacturers knew about the potential risk of heart problems from Androgel and other testosterone drugs, yet inadequate warnings were provided to men and the medical community.
As the testosterone litigation continues to move forward, the lawyers at Saiontz & Kirk, P.A. are continuing to review potential claims for men who have suffered injuries from testosterone therapy, such as:
- Heart Attack
- Stroke
- Blood Clots
- Wrongful Death
To learn more about the current status of the litigation or determine if you, a friend or family member may be entitled to financial compensation for a testosterone drug injury, call 1-800-522-0102 or request a free and confidential consultation.
CONTACT OUR LAWYERS ABOUT THE TESTOSTERONE LITIGATION
4 Comments • Add Your Comments
Morgenthau says:
I took Andrgel and had to be hospitalized for Atrial fibrillation. I took the medication up to the incident. I never had any heart conditions.
Posted on November 23, 2014 at 11:40 pm
Reta says:
My husband was encouraged to take Testosterone therapy to elevate his mood which his doctor attributed to having age onset low T. If we’d been told there was a possibility of his having a stroke or heart attack during this time we would have at least known what to look for – but in a 58 -year-old male with no history of heart disease, no indicators which would have warned us of even a slight possibility of a life threatening event, who would flag such a malady in themselves or in their husband? By the time my husband’s hearth health decline was identified the damage had been done, if we had know we would have rushed into the ER, early prompt care would have reversed the damage – denial would not have waylaid early care which would have prevented the harm to my husband’s heart. It is called prevention for a good reason.
Posted on May 10, 2015 at 12:24 am
Richard says:
I never had any problems with my heart until I started taking Androgel. I had a HEART attack three years ago and still waiting to hear from Seager and Weiss the law firm that I called the week after my heart attack… since then I have stopped all Testosterone and I have not had a problem with my heart…
Posted on December 3, 2016 at 1:23 pm
Rodney says:
I started on AndroGel after 2011. My doctor put me on AndroGel because I am a 35 year post bone marrow transplant patient that had AML leukemia and because of the radiation therapy I went through my body makes very little testosterone. In the first year that I was on AndroGel I suffered two heart attacks and one stroke. The problem for me is is that my body produces practically zero testosterone normal levels being between 2 and 400 my level is 6. So as for me I really need to be on testosterone and if they would only had made my doctor’s aware that heart attack and stroke could be a complication of this therapy my doctors could have taken effective countermeasures to have prevented he’s heart attacks and strokes that I suffered. I have since discontinued just testerone replacement therapy and I have not yet had another heart attack or another stroke in 8 years. I believe that my case has been proven it’s high time that they settled up and compensated people for the damage is there drug caused.
Posted on November 13, 2018 at 1:16 am