Arizona plaintiff Luther C. is suing several major pharmaceutical companies for allegedly failing to warn about the serious heart risks of using testosterone replacement therapy.

Luther claims that as a direct result of using the defendants’ low testosterone (low-t) therapy replacement products — AndroGel, Axiron, and Depo-Testosterone — he suffered a heart attack and had to be hospitalized.

Like millions of men in America who are growing older, Luther found himself suffering from the common side effects of aging, including: irritability, fatigue, weight gain, and decreased libido action. These aging side effects have also been the cornerstone of testosterone replacement therapy advertisements of pharmaceutical companies everywhere.

For the past decade, drug companies had picked up on the fear men had about losing their testosterone levels, and created so-called low-t products to allegedly help prevent or manage the conditions.

The plaintiff sought testosterone replacement therapy for similar reasons, and had been prescribed three low-t products for his waning hormone levels. According to his testosterone product lawsuit, Luther alleges he was prescribed AndroGel, Axiron, and Depo-Testosterone, all which he started on June 09, 2006.

According to medical experts, the risk of cardiac events now associated with low-t products is increased when more than one product is used at a time by a patient. Even though he claims he diligently followed all prescription instructions and adhered to the advice of his physician, Luther still suffered a cardiac attack allegedly caused by his use of testosterone products, his lawsuit allges.

On Feb. 22, 2012, the plaintiff checked into the hospital after experiencing severe chest pain and was subsequently diagnosed with heart attack. Despite the cardiac experience, the plaintiff continued to use the low testosterone products until he reviewed a study published in PLUSOne, which detailed the risk of cardiac complications and low testosterone therapy products, in 2014.

Soon after officially discontinuing the low-T products on Oct. 28, 2014, Luther filed legal action against the pharmaceutical companies responsible for manufacturing the low-T products that allegedly caused him harm.

At no point before or after his low-t prescriptions did the defendants describe possible cardiac attacks from using their low-t products, and failed to provide any relevant studies, the testosterone products lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit claims that the defendants failed in their civic duty to warn their clients of all testosterone side effects that could occur from use of their products, because their clients rely on the given information on the products packaging and drug information inserts. Luther insists that he never would have used the low-t products if he had known about the possibility of cardiac attacks.

For being allegedly responsible for manufacturing, selling, distributing, and marketing dangerous product, Luther is suing Eli Lilly & Co., AbbVie Inc., Pfizer Inc., and other manufacturing companies in this low testosterone replacement therapy lawsuit. The charges include: negligence, false advertising, concealing information, and misrepresenting a product.

This Low Testosterone Replacement Therapy Lawsuit is filed under the Testosterone Product MDL known as In Re: Testosterone Replacement Therapy Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2545, in the U.S. District Court of Northern Illinois.

Overview of Testosterone Replacement Therapy Complications

Testosterone replacement therapy can be used a valid resource and treatment option for men who have true testosterone-depleting conditions like hypogonadism.

Over the past year, the FDA has repeatedly stated that only men with true low-t conditions should be prescribed low-t products. Additionally, the agency stated these testosterone replacement therapy products should not be prescribed to men who do not have legitimate medical reasons.

While the worry of low-t products possibly inducing cardiac attacks prevalent to medical experts for some time now, it has only recently come to the attention of patient’s due to a 2014 study.

Published by Harvard researchers, the PLUSOne study has become an essential piece of evidence in the growing low testosterone litigation movement and has been a vital information to unsuspecting patients.

Researchers reviewed the medical records of 55,000 men who had been prescribed low-T products and who had also been observed in the first 90 days of hormone therapy. The study found that young men with certain heart conditions may increase the risks of cardiac events; additionally, that older men are at risk regardless of their cardiac state.

Ever since this testosterone products study was published, thousands of men have filed product liability suits against manufacturing companies like AbbVie, Eli Lilly, and Pfizer.

The risk of testosterone cardiac problems has become so apparent that consumer advocacy groups have called of a black-box warning to be placed on testosterone therapy products and have petitioned the FDA to require manufacturing companies to update the warnings to include cardiac attacks.