A Testim lawsuit has been filed on behalf of Maryland man who allegedly died from a low testosterone (low-T) induced heart attack. This testosterone product lawsuit has already become a part of testosterone multidistrict litigation (MDL) centered in an Illinois federal court.

Plaintiff Kyoko C. filed this testosterone product lawsuit filed against Auxilium Pharmaceuticals after her husband, Lee, had suffered a heart attack and ischemic stroke after using Testim.

Testim is one of the many low testosterone treatment drugs facing allegations in the MDL, along with others such as Androgel, AndroDerm, Axiron, and others.

According to Kyoko’s Testim lawsuit, the defendant had engaged in highly aggressive and misleading marketing that caused her husband and his doctor to believe he needed this product.

The Testim maker mentioned nothing about the possibility of heart attack, stroke, other other blood-clot complications, which could have made a difference in her husband’s life. Kyoko insists that her husband never would have taken Testim if he had known about the risks.

Additionally, the testosterone product lawsuit tells about Auxilium’s marketing campaign that was geared towards older and middle-aged men, who may have been suffering from the side effects of aging.

These side effects of aging included: stress, irritability, loss of energy, fatigue, and loss of libido function, and they were also mentioned in Auxilium and many other testosterone advertisements. Testosterone companies had stated that these side effects may be signs that the testosterone levels in men could be decreasing, which could ultimately lead to complete loss of sexual function.

Due to the nature of these allegations, the testosterone drug lawsuit was quickly assimilated into the testosterone MDL. Similar to other low-T lawsuits, Kyoko alleged that Auxilium either knew or should have known about the side effects of testim, but chose not mention them on the product’s label.

Additionally, the testosterone lawsuit suggested that these products may not be safe for consumers and that Auxilium failed in their obligation to protect their consumers.

There are many benefits to consolidating similar lawsuits, which include duplicate discovery, avoid conflicting rulings from different judges, and to further serve to the convenience of the parties.

Other low-T drug makers named as defendants in this MDL include: Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Abbott Laboratories, Eli Lilly and Company, Actavis PLC, Endo Pharmaceuticals, and Pfizer Inc.

The Testosterone Drug Lawsuit joining the Testosterone Product MDL is Kyoko C. v. Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Case No. 1:15-cv-00494, in the U.S. District for the Northern District of Illinois.

Overview of Testosterone Cardiac Complications

Naturally, many men and their partners became concerned with this prospect and had started requesting prescriptions for these low-T products from their physicians. Seeing no major complications from the advertisements, their physicians agreed and often emphasized with the patients’ concerns over lower testosterone levels.

Two recent studies have become instrumental in testosterone product lawsuits, which showed the potential risks of these low-T products. The first study was published in the November 2013 of the Journal of the American Medical Association, which had observed 8,700 men who were suffering from low testosterone levels for three years.

Researchers found that older men who were taking low-T products had a 30 percent increased risk of heart attack, stroke, or death.

In another study published in the January 2014 issue of PLOSOne, it found that younger men with certain cardiac conditions were likely to suffer these complications, where older men were at risk regardless.

However, the medical experts who conducted the studies stated that they could not conclusively prove that these products caused cardiac complications. But they did advise healthcare providers to only provide these products to patients who truly needed them, like those with hypogonadism.

It is no secret that the testosterone therapy has become widely successful throughout the years, but many legal experts complain it was due to this fraudulent marketing.