Those Testosterone Lawsuit Ads

[GnomeKid]

Hello!

I just saw an ad for a class action lawsuit over the testosterone treatments for cis men.  Claiming they significantly increased heart attacks, strokes, and other cardiac type issues.  I went to a couple of websites which explained it was for middle aged/older men undergoing low-T therapy who were already experiencing cardiac issues beforehand (not a really strong case in my opinion). 

I know that men in general have more of these issues then women, and that cis men and trans men have different situations ect.  I guess I just plan to ask my doc about it whenever I see him next (probably over the summer I'd imagine).  I just figured I'd toss this out and see if anyone knows any more about it.  Also, its unlikely they've done as many tests with transmen then cismen. 

[CursedFireDean]

I saw a few of those commercials and it got me curious too. I hope some other guys comment here with some more info.

[Sarah Louise]

Every medication, no matter what it is, carries medical risks.  Its up to you to decide if the risks are acceptable.

These lawyers are in it for the money only, the more they hype it the more they potentially can make.

[Sebryn]

Well considering I was warned of the potentional for these very problems BEFORE being allowed to get a prescription for testosterone I think these cases are very weak at best. Not to mention the blood work that we have to get monitors for some of the conditions that contribute to these issues.

I remember being asked about my family history. If we had any cardiac problems or stroke history on either side and so on. My mom and her sisters do so I had to get a cardiogram done before I was able to get a prescription, and this was back in 2011 so I don't really see how (provided the prescribing doctors are covering their butts legally like we all know they do) this lawsuit would have any grounds what so ever. And if it does have any grounds it should be against the doctors who prescribed the drug without screening the men who it was prescribed to beforehand and not the drug company.

I'll have to hunt up the pamphlet that came with my testosterone bottle but I'm almost positive it lists those health issues as a potentional side effect or to consult your doctor before taking if you have those health problems.

More than likely what happened was a bunch of men or their families got angry when they did suffer these health problems and then they tried to sue the doctors who prescribed the drugs. Then when they were laughed at by all the lawyers they looked into suing the drug manufactures themselves since getting a lawsuit against drugs and devices is much much easier than suing doctors. Just speculation mind you from my own experiences with lawsuits after I did physically suffer a severe injury, but not from testosterone. Suing the manufacture is more profitable and easier done than suing the doctor and more likely to pay out since most manufactures just want to shut you up.

[JaimeD]

The ambulance/hearse ->-bleeped-<- ads aren't good sources of information. They are merely trying to drum up business and overwhelm a defendant company with "evidence" and victims.  As another poster stated, every medication out there has some sort of risk that can be amplified by other health issues. Just know what you're taking and if it can interact with anything else, medication wise and other health issues you may have.

[GnomeKid]

Yea.  It seems like a super weak case to me even if it is true. 

I'm not all that worried.  My room mate is the one who started freaking out.  I knew taking T would increase these risks for me just by the logic that men have a greater risk then women in the first place due to the testosterone. 

I just figured it'd be a good thing to bring up in the forums. 

[aleon515]

It's probably valid in some ways... Higher T levels are associated with heart disease, we all know that when signing the dotted line and they are on the warning labels anyway. There is a lot of question if there would be any necessity for the average cis male to be taking testosterone. I know there is such a thing as andropause but there is something to be said for letting a normal condition (which would be the lowering of T levels with age, just get lower). I think some of the taking of T like this is just an effort to get people to take more drugs. I had a conversation with a cis guy friend of mine in his 50s like that. (They used to push estrogen like this, and now they are a little bit more cautious and only recommend it in some cases.)

That said, there has been efforts to get really important drugs (as well as really ridiculous ones which never should have gotten approval) off the list, because some percentage of these have caused serious side effects.

--Jay

[Jared]

I had some issues with my heart when I started T. My doc said it's just my body adjusting to the new hormone and it will go away. If not then I have to use Androgel, maybe gels cause less heart issues? I couldn't find out cause my problem went away.

[Kreuzfidel]

I take it that we're talking about America as we don't see these kinds of ads in Australia.

I don't really understand how there is even a lawsuit - the potential side effects and dangers of the drug are a) known, b) marked on the packaging and c) more than likely explained to the patient before therapy is administered. 

[GnomeKid]

I take it that we're talking about America as we don't see these kinds of ads in Australia.

I don't really understand how there is even a lawsuit - the potential side effects and dangers of the drug are a) known, b) marked on the packaging and c) more than likely explained to the patient before therapy is administered.

Yea.. Generally these sorts of lawsuits come up when these side-effects commonly go unexplained (or as other people have said these lawyers really try to make a buck wherever they can on other people's misfortune).  As ridiculous as many of them are, this sort of thing is really common in the US for pretty much anything (was your loved one exposed to asbestos at work? have you taken this birthcontrol, anxiety med, ect. and had a child with birth defects?  This diet medication which you knew would dehydrate you and speed up your heart beat and had a heart attack?).  I don't see how anyone thinks a lot of them are good cases, but I'm sure some of them are at lease somewhat legit (the risks associated with the drugs not being thoroughly explained/known... not the lawyers pursuing them =p) 

I think that with T they're explained to us as transmen because of the standard male vs. female heart attack risk levels, but that doesn't mean it was necessarily explained to all the cismen who were taking it.  They were probably told that its just regulating the hormone to the level it should be at anyway .  I don't know.  My T's packaging certainly isn't clearly marked (or marked at all) with those warnings though. Maybe because I get it in the mail from a compounding pharmacy? I really know nothing about this so 100% a guess... but even the depo-testosterone i have in official "pfizer" packaging from a local pharmacy doesn't have a warning on the box.

There is a lot of question if there would be any necessity for the average cis male to be taking testosterone. I know there is such a thing as andropause but there is something to be said for letting a normal condition (which would be the lowering of T levels with age, just get lower). I think some of the taking of T like this is just an effort to get people to take more drugs. I had a conversation with a cis guy friend of mine in his 50s like that. (They used to push estrogen like this, and now they are a little bit more cautious and only recommend it in some cases.)

Yea I agree.. We need to just let ourselves age sometimes (though I guess as a 20-something thats easy for me to say).  Men need to get over the fact that as they get older they're going to have less energy and less hard-ons.  Will they?  I doubt it, but I guess at least the dumb one's will die off faster because of all this stupid ED prevention.

[aleon515]

I had some issues with my heart when I started T. My doc said it's just my body adjusting to the new hormone and it will go away. If not then I have to use Androgel, maybe gels cause less heart issues? I couldn't find out cause my problem went away.

No not so. They do make a comment in the suit re: injectable, gels, and creams. But obviously they need a company as a target, since there is no money in injectables (or compounded creams). I am guessing there is a adjustment involved in a lot of cases btw.

--Jay