Two men from California allege they suffered serious side effects of Stribild, which is a popular HIV treatment drug manufactured by Gilead Sciences. These men filed a HIV drug lawsuit alleging they developed serious bone and kidney problems after having adverse reactions to the side effects of Stribild.

These men allege that they had to face the potential side effects of Stribild unnecessarily, stating that Gilead had deliberately delayed the development of a safer version of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF). This medication is sold under brand names including Viread, and is found in the HIV treatment medication Stribild.

However, lawsuits allege that this version of tenofovir is not safe for patients and that Gilead took deliberate measures to conceal this fact.

Plaintiff Complaints

According to the HIV drug lawsuit, plaintiffs Michael L. and Johnathan G. had taken older and more dangerous versions of TDF and suffered serious side effects of Stribild.

More specifically, Michael had taken the TDF HIV treatment drug from 2004 to 2015 and had reportedly developed osteoporosis and osteopenia in the spine, neck, and hip.

Johnathan had reportedly taken the TDF HIV treatment drug for a decade beginning in 2001, and was reportedly diagnosed with the rare kidney disorder Fanconi syndrome in 2010. He was also diagnosed with osteoporosis and osteopenia last year.

Their HIV drug lawsuit is supported by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), which operates in different countries around the world.

Overview of HIV TDF Medication Complications

Gilead makes several significant HIV TDF medications, which are a part of the antiretroviral medication family of nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs). These medications work by preventing the HIV virus cells from replicating; they also prevent transmission of the disease along with increasing the strength of the immune system.

However, it has been alleged that TDF treatment drugs have low bioavailability and are not absorbed very well into the body. This means that patients have to take a lot of these medications to get the desired treatment effect, which ends up compounding in the patient’s bone and kidneys.

It has been alleged that Gilead knew about this problem, but deliberately delayed manufacturing or releasing safer versions of the drug until it was economically viable for the company.

The lawsuit noted that Gilead had begun research and development on tenofovir alafemanide fumarate (TAF), the safer version of the medication, but delayed the drug’s release until 2015. The lawsuit states that “by holding on to its research and shelving TAF , Gilead could patent TAF separately and save it for development when their patent and exclusivity on TDF ran out, in 20 years.”

Gilead Sciences is also facing another claim with class action status, stating that at least two people in California had experienced bone and kidney damage due to the side effects of TDF HIV treatment drugs.

This class action claim is looking to represent all California residents who were prescribed Viread, Truvada, or Atripla from Oct. 26, 2001 to the present, with the patients agreeing to take the medications after reviewing marketing materials and product information from Gilead.