Atripla is a popular HIV drug manufactured by the pharmaceutical company Gilead. Unfortunately, Atripla has been linked with some severe complications, including major bone and kidney issues.

Patients who have been affected by Atripla complications may be able to file a Gilead lawsuit and pursue compensation.

Basics of Atripla

Several HIV medications made by drugmaker Gilead, including Atripla, have the active ingredient tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF), and have been linked with bone and kidney side effects. These drugs belong to a class of medications known as nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, or NRTIs. These HIV medications include:

• Atripla
• Complera
• Stribild
• Truvada
• Viread

These HIV medications are intended to prevent the HIV virus from replicating in the body, which in turn prevents it from being transmitted, and also helps the immune system function better.

These HIV drugs have been linked with a number of kidney issues, including kidney damage, kidney failure, and chronic kidney disease. Bone problems linked with these drugs include bone demineralization from compromised bone density. This may lead in some cases to bone fractures.

HIV Drug Lawsuits

A number of personal injury and class action lawsuits have been filed against drugmaker Gilead, alleging that Atripla and its other tenofovir-containing drugs can cause toxicity to both the kidney and bones.

One of the most recent lawsuits was filed by two men in California who are living with HIV. According to their Gilead lawsuit, the company was aware since as far back as 2001 that its TDF-containing drugs were “…highly toxic in the doses prescribed and risked permanent and possibly fatal damage to the kidneys and bones.”

Indeed, these plaintiffs allege that Gilead concealed and downplayed the risks of its TDF-containing drugs—and even purposely withheld a safer drug containing tenofovir alafenamide from the market because it intends to max out the profits it can make from TDF while it still can.

Another Gilead lawsuit from California plaintiffs living with HIV has similar allegations over bone and kidney damage from TDF drugs. This Gilead lawsuit was filed as a class action, and funded by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF). Class members include California residents who were prescribed and took Atripla, Viread, or Truvada between October 26, 2001, and the present.

“A company I trusted with my life took advantage of that trust by misrepresenting the side effects of TDF, calling it the ‘Miracle Drug’ and using other deceptive marketing strategies. Gilead shelved a far safer drug, TAF, simply to increase its long-term profits. I’m bringing this lawsuit to try to hold Gilead responsible for their reckless focus on profits over patient safety,” said one of the plaintiffs involved in a Gilead lawsuit.

Filing a Gilead Lawsuit Over HIV Drugs

If you or someone you love has suffered from bone or kidney complications after taking Atripla or another of these TDF-containing medications from Gilead, you may be able to pursue a Gilead lawsuit. While filing a Gilead lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering caused by these side effects, it can help to alleviate the financial burden caused by medical expenses and lost wages.