In an effort to streamline and centralize the myriad testosterone therapy lawsuits being filed across the country, a federal judge has set guidelines for how the cases can be filed.

A multidistrict litigation (MDL) was established in June and a federal judge in the Northern District of Illinois was assigned to oversee lawsuit involving testosterone therapy drugs such as AndroGel, Testim and Axiron.

The judge has ordered that all lawsuits against AbbVie or Abbott Laboratories, manufacturers of the widely used AndroGel, will be treated as though they were filed in the Northern District of Illinois. All other cases against other pharmaceutical companies will be handled in the district in which the plaintiff resided at the time of original filing, until a later date, when the plaintiffs may challenge the jurisdiction.

More than 220 testosterone therapy lawsuits filed across the country are being handled in the Northern District of Illinois. A federal panel approved the low-t MDL because all of the complaints contain similar allegations, which are that the drug manufacturers failed to adequately warn that low-t (low testosterone) therapy drugs causes heart attack, stroke, pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or other injuries.

Thousands of other men who have had heart attacks or other cardiac issues while taking testosterone drugs have retained lawyers are expected to file lawsuits.

Plaintiffs in the case are asking for the first cases to have jury trials by mid-2016 while the pharmaceutical companies are asking to wait until late 2017.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved AndroGel in 2001 and Testim the following year. Axiron received FDA approval in 2010. Testosterone replacement therapy products are available in gels, patches applied to the skin or gums, pills and injections.

Marketed as low-t, testosterone therapy drugs target men as young as their 30s who are purportedly suffering fatigue and diminished sex drive, natural occurrences in males as they age.

In January, the FDA issued a safety announcement that the agency was investigating the increased risk of stroke, heart attack, stroke and death in men who took FDA-approved testosterone products.

The FDA cited two separate studies suggesting an increased risk of cardiovascular events among groups of men prescribed testosterone therapy.

Pharmaceutical companies spend millions of dollars urging men to talk to their doctors about low testosterone if they have decreased sexual desire, erectile dysfunction, are tired or have a depressed mood.

U.S. doctors write 5.3 million prescriptions annually for low t drugs. But testosterone side effects are major concern. A National Cancer Institute study of 56,000 patients found that men over 65, as well as men younger than 65 with a history of heart disease, had twice as many heart attacks in the three months after beginning testosterone therapy compared to the year before taking the drug.