Articles Posted in Testosterone therapy

Manufacturing and marketing testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) drugs is a huge industry.  According to data presented by Statistica, testosterone replacement hormone products brought in over $2.4 billion in 2013. That number has risen in years, recently topping $3.8 billion.  The problem is there is not much evidence about what it really means to have a normal testosterone level, and there is even less medical evidence taking testosterone replacement hormone will actually do anything beneficial despite claims by drug companies. It has also been shown increasing testosterone levels also means higher chances of having a stroke or heart attack for men who didn’t need the drug in the first place.

Boston Products Liability The reason testosterone therapy drugs were invented in the early 1970s was to treat a developmental disorder known as hypogonadism. In reality, the clear majority of patients who take testosterone therapy drugs today do not suffer from hypogonadism. The reason they take these meds is because they have been told in countless advertisements and patient information pamphlets if they take TRT drugs, they will no longer “suffer” from the normal symptoms of the aging process.  These symptoms include what one might expect such as the following: Continue reading

Several hundred testosterone drug injury lawsuits against drug makers Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc., GlaxoSmithKline LLC and Auxilium (an Endo unit) are on the verge of settlement. Although the terms of the settlement haven’t been revealed, a spokeswoman for the pharmaceutical firms told Bloomberg it will not require any admission of wrongdoing or liability by the defendants.Androgel injury

There are an estimated 6,000 cases pending against testosterone replacement therapy drug makers, mostly alleging failure to warn of serious side effects like strokes and heart attacks, as well improper and aggressive marketing tactics to drum up more buyers – despite the lack of benefits and high potential for risk to the younger target patients.

Our testosterone drug injury attorneys in Boston are committed to fighting for the men and their loved ones affected by illegal marketing and failure to warn of these dangers, which reportedly include:

  • Heart attacks;
  • Strokes;
  • Pulmonary embolisms;
  • Deep vein thrombosis;
  • Blood clots.

If you have had any of these complications after taking drugs like Androgel, Testim, Axiron, Fortesta, Vogelxo, Bio-T-Gel or any other drug in teh Androgen class, contact us to learn more about your legal options.  Continue reading

Litigating a testosterone replacement therapy lawsuit in Boston can involve many complex issues. One recently litigated issues deals with the challenges in filing certain claims against generic drug manufacturers involving failure to warn of a known danger.  This is a claim that the manufacturer of a drug did not adequately include warnings about certain known dangers or adverse events (side effects) on the information given to doctors or the monograph warnings given to patients at pharmacies when they go to get their prescriptions filled.

Boston products liability lawsuits The specific problems arise when a patient gets a generic version of a prescription drug.  The makers of generic drugs still must have their products approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but they are not applying for approval under a new drug application.  Since they are making a generic version of a brand name drug, as long as the generic is substantially similar to the brand name, the generic drug manufacturer is prohibited under federal law from changing warnings used by the brand-name drug manufacturer.   In other words, the generic manufacturer must simply copy the warnings use by the brand-name drug maker.  This was confirmed in two landmark cases entitled PLIVA Inc. v. Messing, and Wyeth v. Levin.   Continue reading

There are many drugs and other medical products on the market that we assume are safe.  The problem is that much of the research that “proves” a product’s safety actually comes from drug companies with a financial stake.  Long-term, independent studies on the safety of these medications are often sorely lacking. That’s why in so many cases, the truth of a medication’s side effects doesn’t become known until it is widely distributed to the general public.

However, there are some cases in which product manufacturers are aware or should have been aware their product failed to meet key safety standards.

Product Liability LawyerIf a pharmaceutical company knows or has reason to know of a defect in their products and either hides the results of tests performed, or chooses to be willfully-blind of a potential averse event (side effect) due to failure to conduct adequate testing, this can be the basis for filing a Boston defective drug lawsuit against the drug manufacturer.  Continue reading

Testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) drugs are pervasively over-prescribed, according to many researchers and medical professionals. This is true even though TRT drugs can lead to serious and potentially fatal medical conditions including stroke and heart attack.  Testosterone therapy was first introduced nearly 40 years ago as a drug to treat a serious, but rare, medical condition known as hypogonadism. Over the past decade or so, testosterone replacement therapy has become one of the most-used elective medications, as hundreds of thousands of men have become convinced that taking testosterone will serve as a panacea for most if not all of the symptoms of normal male aging.

Boston Products Liability LawyersIt all starts with a commercial on the radio or on a click bait ad on the web that asks men if they have experienced a  loss of libido, general fatigue, joint pain, weight gain, loss of muscle tone, and a variety of other conditions that normally happen to men as they get older.  The ad them tells them if they take testosterone replacement therapy, they will feel much better and most of these so-called symptoms of a low testosterone count will get better, or go away entirely. Continue reading

Over the past decade, drug companies have been heavily marketing the sale of so-called testosterone replacement therapy as a treatment for the signs of normal male aging, despite a lack of proven benefits and evidence of serious health risks.  According to a recent news article from Commercial Appeal, a jury has awarded one plaintiff over $140 million in a product liability lawsuit filed after popular testosterone replacement therapy drug, AndroGel, caused him to have a massive heart attack.

hip replacement lawyerThis case was filed in federal district court located in Chicago and the defendant was AbbVie, a major drug manufacture and maker of AndroGel.  The break down of the damages was $140,000 in compensatory damages and $140 million in punitive damages.  Continue reading

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) recently published a large series of studies that primarily involved the risks and benefits of testosterone replacement therapy.  A recent article from Star-Telegram examined the results of these and discussed what they mean to those who are considering taking testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) drugs, or have already begun taking them and are worried about possible adverse effects and complications.

syringeThe first thing to understand is that while hundreds of thousands of men are taking testosterone replacement therapy drugs every year, the medication was first developed in the 1960’s to treat a relatively rare medical condition known as hypogonadism.  This condition involved extremely low levels of testosterone in men due a glandular defect and would affect normal development.   Continue reading

According to a recent news article from KXAN, one of the side effects of using testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) drugs is that it has been shown to lower a patient’s sperm count.  This reported side effect has been especially pronounced with topical testosterone creams.

sadWith testosterone replacement therapy becoming such a big business, there are a variety of competing products on the market, and these products come in many forms.  There are oral medications, a film that is placed under the tongue, a stick deodorant, injectable testosterone and of course topical skin gels and creams. Continue reading

A federal judge in Illinois is overseeing a multi-district litigation action against the maker of testosterone replacement therapy drugs, with plaintiffs alleging the treatment caused them to suffer heart ailments. The litigation has been ongoing for some time – and is still not at the trial phase. doctor

The MDL represents hundreds of men who say they were harmed by the company’s failure to warn of this possible risk.

Now, the judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois issued a ruling that will work to plaintiffs’ advantage at future trials. The judge ruled that plaintiffs’ expert medical witness, a doctor who penned the rebuttal report for plaintiffs’ steering committee, only be allowed to submit a portion of that report. The San Jose State University professor authored a report in October, which included citations of a number of cross-studies. Defendant argued there should be a limitation on how many of those studies the expert witness could use in his report.  Continue reading

A recent news article from the Wisconsin State Journal takes a closer look at the dangers associated with taking testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) drugs. With the amount of advertising produced and purchased by the drug companies that make TRT drugs, many think that taking testosterone can only help and can’t hurt them.  This could not be farther from the truth.

white pillsA doctor featured in this article said a patient came into his office requesting the doctor order a blood test to check his testosterone levels.  This patient was around 30 years old.  Low testosterone is not normally an issue seen in a man that young unless he has the relatively rare disorder known as hypogonadism. Continue reading

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