The number of AndroGel lawsuits continues to grow. Most recently, Plaintiff Stephen Frickie filed his testosterone gel lawsuit in Louisiana federal court. Frickie was 70, and based on AbbVie’s claims regarding the effectiveness and safety of AndroGel, was prescribed and used AndroGel prior to his injury.

Around May 1, 2013, Frickie was hospitalized and underwent treatment for two blood clots in his lungs. He alleges that this was a result of his using AndroGel. Additionally, he claims he has “suffered severe mental and physical pain and suffering and has sustained permanent injuries and emotional distress.” Frickie states that if the AndroGel risks had been properly disclosed, he would not have used the product. As the claim states, “AndroGel is unreasonably dangerous.”

Marketing Plays Its Part

The many men in the growing testosterone gel class action lawsuit claim that drug makers are engaging in “aggressive, award-winning direct-to-consumer and physician marketing and advertising campaigns for testosterone.” Include in that the “Is It Low-T” quiz on one of their websites. The creator of the survey, Dr. Morley, in a 2013 New York Times interview admitted “that he drafted the survey in a bathroom in less than 30 minutes, scribbling the questions on toilet paper.” Moreover, Dr. Morley stated that “the survey is “not ideal” as a tool for helping to determine whether an Individual’s symptoms are caused by low testosterone levels.”

This is just a part of a marketing plan pushing a product that can do more harm than good if not needed. It’s been alleged that these drugs cause serious medical problems, including life threatening cardiac events, strokes, and thrombolytic events and victims say they didn’t receive adequate warning. “Defendants knew or, through the exercise of reasonable care, should have known that the labeling for ANDROGEL substantially understated the risks and overstated the efficacy of the drug,” the AndroGel lawsuit says.

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in August 2013 indicated “that many men who get testosterone prescriptions have no evidence of Low-T.” However, the advertising did pay off; AndroGel was the biggest selling androgen drug in the United States during the past year with $1.4 billion in sales.

History of AndroGel

When the FDA was asked for approval of AndroGel in 1999, the request “asserted that hypogonadism was estimated to affect approximately “one million American men.” In 2000, when the FDA approved AndroGel, the estimated market jumped to “four to five million American men.” By 2003, the number increased to “up to 20 million men.” However, these figures aren’t representative of those that really need testosterone gel treatment (that number is closer to the original one million).

In 2009, the FDA issued a black box warning for testosterone prescriptions. Then, in 2014, the FDA kickstarted a safety review as part of an effort to warn of the dangers of testosterone usage. This led to numerous media outlets reporting on the risks of AndroGel use.

As men became aware that their heart issues may be related to their use of testosterone products, there were many testosterone gel lawsuits that were filed. The victims say the drug makers knew or should have known of the risks, and intentionally hid that information from the medical community, consumers and public as a whole.

Frickie is suing AbbVie, a subsidiary of Abbott Laboratories Inc., for violating the Louisiana Products Liability Act, defective composition, defective design, inadequate warning, and damages.

The testosterone lawsuit is Steven Frickie v. AbbVie Inc., et al, Case No. 2:14-cv-00974, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.