Earlier this month, lawsuits alleging that the popular erectile dysfunction drug Viagra causes skin cancer were centralized and transferred to a San Francisco federal court.

So far, more than 100 men have filed in federal and state lawsuits nationwide, including those in Missouri, Arizona, and Connecticut. These Viagra skin cancer lawsuits have been transferred to a judge in San Francisco for efficiency and convenience by a federal judicial panel; this judge will receive all future lawsuit claims as well.

Specifically, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) issued an order on April 7 that will transfer 14 pending lawsuits to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California under Judge Richard Seeborg.

Judge Seeborg is currently overseeing several other Viagra skin cancer lawsuits and this transfer put that number at well over 100 lawsuits.

There are many advantages to coordinating the litigation, such as improving efficiency. In the future, lawyers may choose cases for “bellwether” trials to go before a judge and jury. The outcome of these trials can help resolve other cases involving similar injuries.

According to the JPML, “centralization will eliminate duplicative discovery, prevent inconsistent pretrial rulings…and conserve the resources of the parties, their counsel, and the judiciary.”

While the plaintiffs’ attorney’s consider this transfer a win, Pfizer spokeswoman Neha Wadhwa wrote in an email statement “Viagra’s safety and efficacy have been studied in 136 clinical trials, and there is no reliable scientific evidence that the medicine causes melanoma. Pfizer stands behind this important medicine and intends to vigorously defend these lawsuits.”

Study Links Viagra to Melanoma

According to court documents, numerous medical studies indicate that using Viagra can cause a cell mutation that can lead to an increased risk of skin cancer. Specifically, a 2014 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine (JAMA) suggested that men who use Viagra may be more likely to develop melanoma.

The study, which was conducted by researchers at Harvard University, gathered data from 25,848 men with an average age of 65. About 6% of the subjects had used Viagra. The analysis indicated that current use of Viagra’s active ingredient, sildenafil citrate, increased the risk for the disease by 84%. Past users had roughly double the risk of developing melanoma.

Use of Viagra did not appear to increase the risk of other skin cancers, including squamous cell carcinoma and basal cell carcinoma.

The authors of the study surmised that the active ingredient in Viagra, sildenafil citrate, lowers levels of a cancer-fighting protein called PDE5A. This could accelerate the growth of melanoma cells.

Viagra Skin Cancer Lawsuits

Viagra, which was approved in 1998 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, is used by an estimated 35 million men all over the world to treat erectile dysfunction, a condition in which a man cannot achieve or maintain an erection sufficient for sexual activity.

If you or someone you love developed melanoma after taking Viagra, you may be entitled to compensation. A Viagra claims lawyer can review your information at no cost and advise you of your legal options.