More 30 AndroGel lawsuits filed in Northern District of Illinois federal court will be centralized before U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly. The testosterone injury lawsuits allege that men suffered heart attacks, strokes and blood clots that were caused by side effects of the testosterone treatment.
The Executive Committee in the Northern District of Illinois on March 14, ordered that the federal cases will be assigned to Judge Kennelly for consolidated pretrial proceedings. This pre-trial consolidation is typically seen in mass tort pharmaceutical litigation. This means that nationwide federal consolidation in a multidistrict ligation (MDL) cannot be far behind and more likely than not the nationwide testosterone cases will end up in Chicago, Illinois.
Benefits of Federal MDL Consolidation
The federal AndroGel testosterone lawsuits will be handled by one judge to prevent duplicative discovery, eliminate the risk of conflicting pretrial rulings from different judges and to ease the burden on the parties, witnesses and the courts.
Nationwide AndroGel Heart Attack Lawsuits
AbbVie, the manufacturer of Androgel is exposed to many product liability lawsuits over their low testosterone gel. Plaintiffs allege that the company knew or should have known about the increase of stroke, heart attacks, blood clots and death from the use of their popular testosterone replacement gel, AndroGel and they failed to provide adequate warnings.
Medical Studies Demonstrate Increased Heart Attack Risk
According to a recent study reported in the January 2014 edition of PLOSOne medical journal, testosterone treatments may double the risk of heart attack for younger men with heart disease and men over the age of 65. On the heels of that alarming report, the FDA stepped in and announced an investigation of low testosterone replacement therapy on January 31.
In November 2013, the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that testosterone side effects may increase the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and death among older men.
Plaintiffs Lawsuit Allegations
The plaintiffs allege that AbbVie and their parent company Abbott Laboratories knew or should have known about the potential AndroGel heart attack side effects, but withheld important information from patients and doctors.
Many testosterone therapy lawsuits being filed against the manufacturers of AndroGel, Testim, Axiron, AndroDerm and others.