A Colorado resident recently filed a testosterone product lawsuit against Pfizer Inc. and Pharmacia & Upjohn Co. for injuries allegedly incurred from taking the prescription drug Depo-Testosterone.

Plaintiff Thomas M. alleges he used Depo-Testosterone products between February 2012 and April 2013. While taking the medication, he suffered from several adverse health events, including a heart attack, the testosterone product lawsuit alleges.

Thomas is suing Pfizer and Pharmacia & Upjohn Co. for violations of consumer protection laws. Thomas claims the defendants failed to warn the medical community and the general public about the risks associated with taking Depo-Testosterone.

Claims against the companies include fraudulent misrepresentation, negligence, breach of warranty, failure to warn, and strict product liability. Thomas states that had he been properly advised about the risks of Depo-Testosterone, he would have avoided taking the prescription medication.

According to the testosterone drug lawsuit, the defendants coordinated an aggressive national low testosterone awareness campaign in order to boost sales. The low testosterone campaign used television ads, promotional literature, and online media to target men across the country.

The ads claimed to educate men on the symptoms associated with low testosterone levels. Unfortunately, the general symptoms described in the advertising campaign are often merely a result of aging, weight gain or life style rather than low testosterone. The ads encouraged patients experiencing symptoms such as listlessness, increased body fat, and moodiness to talk to their medical provider about starting testosterone replacement therapy.

Hypogonadism is a condition affecting the sex glands, which in men, can cause the body to decrease its production of testosterone, or stop the production of testosterone all together. The Journal of the American Medical Association published an article in 2013 explaining that many men receiving testosterone replacement therapy had no evidence of hypogonadism. In addition, the JAMA article said that a quarter of men receiving testosterone treatments had not actually had their testosterone levels tested prior to receiving a prescription.

Allegedly due to aggressive marketing, testosterone replacement therapy sales have been extremely profitable. Collectively, companies like Pfizer and Pharmacia & Upjohn had sales of over $2 billion in 2013 and sales are expected to grow upward of $5 billion by 2017.

Studies have shown that testosterone replacement treatments may increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, pulmonary embolism, and/or deep vein thrombosis.

Products associated with these side effects include Depo-Testosterone, Delatestryl, AndroGel, Androderm, Fortesta, Testin, Testopel, and many others. Testosterone treatments can be given in multiple forms such as injections, creams, and patches.

This Testosterone Replacement Therapy Lawsuit is Case No. 1:14-cv-01748, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.