In one of the most recent testosterone lawsuits filed against Abbott Laboratories, a West Virginia man is claiming low testosterone (low-T) replacement therapy complications. This plaintiff alleges that he developed pulmonary embolism after using the defendants’ low-T products, Axiron and AndroGel.

Like millions of middle-aged men across America, the plaintiff had requested testosterone replacement therapy after fearing for his testosterone levels. For the past several years, low-T supplement manufacturers launched a successful advertising campaign towards men, warning them of symptoms associated with lowering testosterone levels. These symptoms include fatigue, weight gain, muscle loss, irritability, and loss of libido function; however, the companies failed to point out that these symptoms are also byproducts of aging. This led to numerous misconceptions and unnecessary low-T prescriptions for men, which led to numerous allegations of blood-clot injuries.

According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff had been prescribed AndroGel and Axiron in June 2011, and had used the products for several years. During this time, he experienced no complications and had followed all prescription instructions, along with the advice of his physician. Despite this diligence, the plaintiff suffered, being diagnosed with pulmonary embolism on July 19, 2013, at which point he discontinued his prescription.

The plaintiff claims that in direct result of using these low-T products, he suffered these complications. The plaintiff’s lawyers claim that Abbott Laboratories had the civil responsibility of warning their client and other low-T patients of all possible side effects, because they rely on the given information when deciding to take the drug. The plaintiff states that he never would have used the low-T products if he had known about the possibility of pulmonary embolism.

This Testosterone Injury Lawsuit is part of the Testosterone Multidistrict Litigation, MDL No. 2545, in the U.S. District Court of Northern Illinois.

Overview of Testosterone Replacement Therapy Complications

As mentioned before, the concern of testosterone replacement therapy products being associated with blood clot injuries, like pulmonary embolism, has been a concern for the past several years. On June 19, 2014, the concern became so prevalent that the FDA required that all testosterone replacement therapy products have their labels updated to include the risk of blood clots forming in the veins.

In addition, the agency was investigating the risk of blood clots being caused by low-T products as the FDA announcement stated that the link had not been conclusively proven. The agency will focus on determining if there is a casual link between using low-T products and an increased risk of stroke or heart attack.

Perhaps one of the most comprehensive scientific inquiries printed so far is the often-mentioned study published in PloSOne, on Jan. 29, 2014. This testosterone study served as a follow-up to an earlier study published in December 2013, which showed that older patients with heart conditions were at a higher risk for developing blood-clot injuries after using low-t products. However, the PloSOne study showed that younger patients with heart conditions were also at risk for low-T blood clot complications, and showed that older patients were at risk regardless of cardiac condition. This study observed 56,000 patients and was conducted by National Cancer Institute and UCLA, and had observed the subjects for the first 90 days after starting testosterone replacement therapy.

Despite the overwhelming results, the authors of the study stated that this did not conclusively prove a link, and stated that further studies would need to be conducted. This, however, does not help the numerous men who are either current users of low-T products, or those who have already suffered the consequences of blood clot; instead, it has spawned numerous product liability lawsuits against the manufacturing companies, with the plaintiffs alleging that the companies deliberately concealed this information to protect the market value of their product.