An Illinois resident filed a testosterone lawsuit alleging Pfizer is misrepresenting Depo-Testosterone Cypionate as a safe and effective treatment for hypogonadism, or “low testosterone,” despite reports that the drug is causing such medical problems as stroke and life-threatening cardiac events.

Depo-Testosterone is a testosterone injection of the synthetic hormone testosterone cypionate, FDA-approved to treat male hypogonadism (low testosterone).

Plaintiff Melvin H. claims in the testosterone lawsuit that he was prescribed Depo-Testosterone Cypionate, an injectable testosterone drug, to treat symptoms attributed to low testosterone and used it as directed from April 2005 until December 2011, when he was diagnosed with a heart attack.

As a result of the Depo-Testosterone side effects, Melvin has suffered serious personal and emotional injuries as well as the associated physical pain and medical expenses that accompany a heart attack.

The Depo-Testosterone lawsuit further alleges that Pfizer failed to properly disclose the risks associated with the use of the testosterone replacement therapy drug and did not warn consumers and health care providers that Depo-Testosterone side effects could cause serious injury, like adverse cardiac events.

Testosterone Raises Heart Attack Risks

A study published in the November 2013 Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found testosterone therapy increases one’s risk of heart attack, stroke, and death. About 9,000 male veterans participated in the study. The mean age of the men was 60. All had survived a coronary angiography and all had been determined to have low testosterone.

About 15 percent of the men began testosterone therapy. Twenty-six percent suffered a heart attack or stroke or died from another cause in a about a three-year span. In comparing the 26 percent to the group not taking testosterone therapy, researchers concluded that men on such testosterone medications risk a 30 percent higher chance of serious, potentially deadly heart issues.

Testosterone Product Lawsuits

Many testosterone lawsuits filed against Pfizer claim that the drug giant engaged in an aggressive unbranded “disease awareness” campaign to alert men that they might be suffering from low testosterone.

As a result of this alleged “disease mongering,” the number of men diagnosed with low testosterone increased dramatically and sales of Depo-Testosterone and other testosterone replacement therapy drugs rose to several hundred million dollars.

Melvin joins approximately 1,400 other testosterone product plaintiffs in asserting that if the drug manufacturers had provided sufficient warnings and information about the potential Depo-Testosterone side effects, men throughout the United States may have been able to avoid serious and potentially life-threatening medical problems.

Melvin is seeking actual and punitive damages as well as relief, general and special damages and equitable relief in order to enable him to treat and monitor the permanent side effects allegedly caused by Depo-Testosterone Cypionate.

The Depo-Testosterone Lawsuit is Case No. 1:15-cv-09802, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.