Lawsuits Against Testosterone Treatment Testim

A few weeks after lawsuits were filed against Abbott Laboratories and AbbVie Inc., the makers of Androgel, a lawsuit was brought against Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, which makes the product Testim. A second suit against Auxilium was filed in March.

Both drugs are used as topical testosterone therapy treatments. Testim is a gel typically applied to the upper body or arms every 24 hours. Testim and Androgel are considered, in some cases, to be interchangeable.

Problems with these treatments were revealed in January, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a “Safety Announcement” for the use of testosterone replacement therapy. According to its alert, the FDA is investigating “the risk of stroke, heart attack, and death in men taking FDA-approved testosterone products.”

The FDA expressed concerns after two studies showed an increased risk of cardiovascular problems. Most of those findings related to men with underlying heart conditions and/or men over 60. But the studies have brought to light the real danger that the pharmaceutical companies and even doctors are leading men down the same path they led women decades before — into thinking that artificial hormone replacement therapies are safe before we have results of any long-term studies.

Testim Plaintiffs

The first Testim plaintiff, Joseph Myers, claimed the makers of Testim misled consumers about the drug’s safety for treating hypogonadism, or low testosterone.  He suffered a stroke after he began use of Testim and is claiming the drug contributed to the stroke. This case is proceeding in federal court, in the U.S. District Court, Central District of California.

A second Testim suit was filed in Pennsylvania in March. In that case, the plaintiff had been taking Testim for about a year before he suffered a heart attack. Among other claims, the lawsuit argues that Auxilium Pharmaceuticals knew or should have known about the cardiovascular risks associated with the drug, which included myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular accident, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, and sudden cardiovascular death.

According to the plaintiff law firm’s press release, “Our Firm has heard from numerous men who allegedly suffered life-threatening heart problems due to their use of low testosterone therapies, such as Testim and AndroGel. It’s not surprising that testosterone lawsuits have begun to mount in state and federal courts around the country.” In recent years, Testim had about 18 % of the market share in testosterone therapy treatments. The market leader Abbott Labs has two testosterone replacement products that controlled about 75% of the market.

Louisville, Kentucky lawyers at Thomas Law Offices are currently investigating cases on behalf of men who have suffered heart attacks and strokes while using testosterone replacement products.