More than 1,500 testosterone product lawsuits brought against the makers of AndroGel and other low-T drugs are moving forward in the legal progress.

U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kennelly is overseeing the coordination of the multidistrict litigation in the Northern District of Illinois that claims the low-T therapy medications caused life-threatening side effects including heart attacks, strokes and blood clot injuries.

Judge Kennelly has allowed for an extension on the bellwether selection and has denied a request from drug manufacturer AbbVie for bifurcation which would separate the issues of liability from personal injury damages into two different trials.

Extension of Bellwether Selection

The process of using a bellwether approach when dealing with large number of cases that are similar in accusations is that it’s an early indicator to the courts of what future lawsuits will determine. Judge Kennelly decided that the MDL cases that involve AndroGel, Axiron, Testim and other low-T drugs will be divided into two groups for the bellwether trials based on allegations. One group will look at the accusations that the testosterone products caused deep vein thrombosis and thromboembolism while the next group will cover the cases that claim the products caused heart attacks.

Bellwether trials are not legally binding but they are often a good indicator of how a jury will rule based on evidence. Occasionally, using this process leads to settlements before the actual trial takes place.

The final order on bellwether selection will be issued by Judge Kennelly on Aug. 31. The court will then look at potential bellwether case selections and choose three cases that will address the issue of blood clot injuries and three that will look at heart attack allegations for the bellwether trials.

Testosterone Replacement Therapy

More than 5 million men in the United States use a testosterone product in the form of testosterone cream, testosterone gels, testosterone injections or a testosterone patch. The booming low-T product industry markets medications to men who want to build muscle mass and increase their sex drive. Symptoms of having low testosterone include fatigue, mood change, increased body fat, low sex drive, hair loss, difficulty achieving erections, and loss of muscle mass.

Testosterone product use has tripled in the last decade but many medical experts have warned that low testosterone levels is just part of the natural aging process so using low-T replacement therapy could be placing men at unnecessary health risks. Recent studies have found that men who use a testosterone product have an increased risk of heart attack or stroke by 30 percent.

Low-T Lawsuits

Testosterone product lawsuits continue to be filed across the country with plaintiffs accusing manufacturers of not adequately warning patients of the serious health risks associated with taking a low-T drug. Testosterone consumers who have filed lawsuits allege the warning labels are insufficient as they list possible side effects as headaches, back pain and depression but leave out heart attack and strokes. Many plaintiffs claim manufacturers knew of the severe health risks but concealed them to patients.

The MDL taking place in the Northern District of Illinois has slated upcoming trial dates for the testosterone lawsuits. The testosterone product lawsuits that focus on blood clot injuries including deep vein thrombosis and thromboembolism are scheduled for Oct. 31, 2016, Dec. 5, 2016, and Jan. 9, 2017. The testosterone lawsuits that will focus on heart attack allegations are set to take place Feb. 13, 2017, March 20, 2017, and April 24, 2017.