Federal Panel Transfers Low Testosterone Lawsuits To District Court In Chicago, Reports Alonso Krangle LLP
New York NY (PRWEB) June 21, 2014 -- Alonso Krangle LLP, an experienced defective drug injury law firm, has learned that testosterone lawsuits filed against the manufacturers of testosterone products that allegedly caused men to have a stroke, heart attack or other health complications are now consolidated in a federal court in Chicago. A panel of federal judges transferred all cases to the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois because the majority of testosterone cases are already filed there and the defendants in those cases, AbbVie Inc. and Abbott Laboratories, the makers of AndroGel, are based in Illinois. The judicial panel expressed its reluctance to establish an industry-wide multidistrict litigation (MDL), but decided to do so since some of the testosterone lawsuits involve more than one testosterone drug, such as Androderm, Fortesta and Testim. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly will preside over the MDL.
[jpml.uscourts.gov/sites/jpml/files/MDL-2545-Initial_Transfer-05-14.pdf, June 6, 2014]
The Alonso Krangle LLP Law Firm launched an evaluation of testosterone replacement therapy lawsuits after the U.S. Food & Drug Administration announced its plan to re-examine all FDA-approved testosterone products. In a safety alert issued in January, the FDA said its concern over the products was prompted by studies suggesting an increased risk of stroke, heart attack and death in men who take the prescription medication to treat hypogonadism (low testosterone) due to an underlying medical condition. The FDA reviewed a study published in the November 2013 Journal of the American Medical Association that found older men with an underlying cardiovascular disease who took testosterone medication had a 30 percent increased risk of having a stroke, heart attack or death compared to men who did not take testosterone medication. The FDA also reviewed the findings of a PLOS One Journal Study that showed men over 65 and younger men with pre-existing heart disease who took testosterone medication were at a greater risk of having a heart attack within the first 90 days after taking the first prescription.
[fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm383904.htm, January 31, 2014]
[jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1764051, November 6, 2013]
[plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0085805, January 29, 2014]
Court records indicate that the FDA’s decision moved plaintiffs in AndroGel lawsuits to ask the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multilitigation (JPML) to transfer all cases associated with using AndroGel to the federal court in Chicago. (In Re: AndroGel Product Liability Litigation, No. 36, JPML) In a separate but related move, plaintiffs in complaints associated with other testosterone drugs asked the same panel to transfer all federally filed testosterone cases, regardless of the brand and manufacturer, to a federal court in Louisiana.
(In Re: Testosterone Products Liability Litigation, No. 42, JPML)
Court documents further show that Pfizer, which manufactures Depo Testosterone, filed a motion asking to be removed from any proposed consolidation because there were only four lawsuits pending against the company’s Depo Testosterone. (Case ILN/1:14-cv-02934) Pfizer contended that its product is an injectable testosterone therapy, which is distinct from the topical gel testosterone products of the other manufacturers who are being sued. The judicial panel noted the concerns but stated it was moving forward with the consolidation because all the testosterone replacement therapy lawsuits allege that the use of the drugs caused heart attack, stroke, deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism in the men who took the prescription medication.
The panel’s June 6, transfer order combined litigation for 45 cases pending
against:
• AbbVie Inc. and Abbot Laboratories, makers of AndroGel
• Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., maker of Testim
• Eli Lilly and Company and Lilly USA LLC, maker of Axiron
• Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc., maker of Fortesta
• Pfizer, Inc. and Pharmacia & Upjohn Co., makers of Depo Testosterone
The panel’s order also stated that 81 potentially related testosterone lawsuits are pending in other district courts across the country.
[jpml.uscourts.gov/sites/jpml/files/MDL-2545-Initial_Transfer-05-14.pdf, June 6, 2014]
About Alonso Krangle LLP And Filing A Testosterone Lawsuit
Andres Alonso and David Krangle, attorneys have 40 years of collective legal experience, have focused their law practice on the handling of significant personal injury cases, defective drug and medical device litigation, construction site accidents, nursing home abuse, medical negligence, qui tam/whistleblower actions and consumer fraud cases. A nationwide law firm representing injured victims throughout the U.S., Alonso Krangle LLP is headquartered in Long Island, New York, with offices in New York City, and New Jersey.
Alonso Krangle LLP is offering free testosterone therapy lawsuit reviews to men or their survivors who may have suffered a stroke, heart attack or death due to using testosterone replacement therapy. To learn more, please contact one of the experienced personal injury lawyers at Alonso Krangle LLP by calling 1-800-403-6191 or visit our website, FightForVictims.com.
David Krangle, Alonso Krangle LLP, http://fightforvictims.com, +1 (800) 403-6191, [email protected]
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