At the tail end of December 2014, a case management plan for all federal testosterone lawsuits was outlined by the presiding federal judge in order to prepare a group of testosterone product lawsuits for trial dates throughout 2016 and 2017.

The testosterone drug lawsuits not included in the judge’s case management plan are those involving AbbVie’s “low-t” drug AndroGel.

Since June of last year, all testosterone product lawsuits alleging plaintiffs experienced heart attacks or other dangerous testosterone therapy side effects were centralized in a testosterone product multidistrict litigation, or MDL, in an Illinois federal court before U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly.

While it is estimated that several thousands of testosterone drug lawsuits will eventually be involved in the testosterone product MDL, currently Judge Kennelly is presiding over 274 testosterone therapy lawsuits involving claims of personal injury against the makers of AndroGel, Axiron, Testim, Androderm, Depo-Testosterone, and other testosterone injections, gels, and creams.

According to Judge Kennelly’s case management order, all non-AbbVie testosterone drug lawsuits currently pending in federal court will go to trial in small batches of testosterone bellwether cases before a jury sometime during 2017.

These product liability cases have named Auxillium, Eli Lilly, Actavis, Watson Laboratories, Pfizer, Endo Pharmaceuticals, and other testosterone manufacturers as defendants, claiming they knowingly sold testosterone gels, creams, and other forms of testosterone replacement therapy with serious testosterone product side effects to male consumers.

As for the AndroGel lawsuits, which make up the majority of the close to 300 currently filed testosterone drug lawsuits included in the MDL, Judge Kennelly has indicated in his case management order that a small of group of these AbbVie testosterone product lawsuits will also be subjected to bellwether trials, though they are set for early trial dates projected to take place in late 2016.

Judge Kennelly has directed all parties involved in a testosterone product lawsuit centralized in the national testosterone drug MDL to meet before Sept. 10, 2015, in order to agree on a process for selecting the testosterone product lawsuits that will be included in the bellwether trial groups.

The Testosterone Products MDL is In re: Testosterone Replacement Therapy Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2545, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Testosterone Product Side Effects

A number of testosterone gels, creams, shots, and patches have been aggressively marketed to middle-aged men with the promise of eliminating or reducing the natural side effects of male aging.

These low-t therapies are widely popular in the United States and because of the aggressive, and allegedly deceptive, marketing of these drugs, many men have asked their physicians for testosterone therapy, despite not being diagnosed with a true low-t condition.

According to various testosterone drug lawsuits, testosterone drug manufacturers allegedly present testosterone products as an easy way for middle-aged men to experience an increased libido, energy, and muscle maintenance.

However, these same testosterone drug companies have allegedly neglected to inform male consumers of serious side effects associated with using testosterone products.

Some serious testosterone product side effects include:

• Blood clot
• Enlarged prostrate
• Heart attack
• Stroke
• Death

Many individuals and family members have filed testosterone product lawsuits or have joined testosterone product class action lawsuits against the manufacturers of these products, seeking compensation for personal injuries incurred while using testosterone therapy.