Pfizer has argued that the pending testosterone lawsuits against the makers of testosterone gels should not include their testosterone products. Pfizer’s legal team argues that their product — and the health concerns associated with it — are different enough from other testosterone products to warrant a separate testosterone lawsuit.

As males age, they produce less androgens, a class of hormones that includes testosterone. In some cases, this may be a medical condition.

There has been recent attention to this as a possible health concern, and in response several companies have produced a variety of products designed to boost testosterone levels. However, it has been alleged that drug manufacturers have aggressively over-promoted these products. Indeed, as many as a quarter of “low-testosterone” (low-T) patients have never even had their testosterone levels tested before getting prescribed low-T drugs.

Additionally, it has been alleged that these drugs can greatly increase a person’s risk of developing blood clot related complications, including stroke and pulmonary embolism.

Testosterone lawsuits against the manufacturers of low-T drugs are currently being organized into a type of group litigation called a multidistrict litigation or MDLs. MDLs are similar to class action lawsuits in that they involve a group of people who allege that they have suffered similar harm at the hands of the same defendant. The main difference is that class action lawsuits start out as group lawsuits, while MDLs start as individual cases which are later coordinated into a single legal action. This process is overseen by the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML). MDLs are more common than class action lawsuits for drug lawsuits, since people who file drug lawsuits tend to have injuries that vary, making a single lawsuit unrealistic.

Like individual lawsuits, MDLs may have multiple related defendants. However, Pfizer has alleged that they should not be included in the MDL since there are several differences between their testosterone products and the others under legal scrutiny.

Pfizer’s legal team argues that their products are injections, and the other testosterone products involved in the MDL are gels or creams. Additionally, Pfizer argues that the accusation that the products are aggressively over-marketed on television does not apply Pfizer’s products, since they never advertised them on television. On top of this, Pfizer has asserted that since their drugs are off-patent, their testosterone lawsuits could be more complicated than most other testosterone products. For these reasons, Pfizer has asserted that the testosterone products lawsuits naming Pfizer as a defendant should be treated separately from the MDL.

The proposed testosterone MDL is In Re: AndroGel Products Liability Litigaiton, Case No. 2545, currently before the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation.