The Pharmaceutical and Medical Device team at CaseyGerry is currently not accepting testosterone injury cases.
The Warning
Recent research reveals that prescription testosterone medication – in the form of tablets, patches, gels, and injections – can cause serious illnesses, among them deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, heart attack and stroke.
A new study – published recently in the online journal PLOS One, and conducted by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, the National Institutes of Health and Consolidated Research – found that testosterone tripled the risk of heart attacks in one group of more than 48,000 middle-age men with previous histories of heart disease and doubled the risk of cardiovascular disease in more than 7,000 men over age 65. Overselling Testosterone
Additionally, a 2013 report, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association determined that patients using testosterone faced a nearly 30 percent increased risk of stroke or heart attack – or even dying from the medication – than those not on the hormone. The findings call for more cautious prescribing of testosterone by physicians.
In response, officials at the Food and Drug Administration recently announced that they will reexamine the safety of testosterone products and investigate rates of stroke, heart attack and death in men using the drugs.
Background
Testosterone is the male sex hormone that helps maintain bone density, muscle strength and mass and red blood cell production. Natural levels of the hormone in the body peak in early adulthood, then decline with age. Widely touted as a way to help men bolster diminished energy and boost sex drive, testosterone therapy has been used in recent years as a cure-all for a full range of maladies – from fatigue to depression. The medication is approved by the FDA to treat specific medical conditions, such as hypogonadism, known as low testosterone or “Low T,” a syndrome characterized loss of sexual drive and decrease in physical strength, among other symptoms.
Due to an intensive marketing campaign by American drug companies, the amount of testosterone prescribed to men in this country has surged. According to a study last year in JAMA Internal Medicine, between 2001 and 2011, use of testosterone by men 40 and over nearly quadrupled.
In the United States, sales of testosterone products reached $1.6 billion in 2011. The appeal of the hormone therapy is indisputable. It can build muscle, increase bone density, improve libido and influence emotional and physical well-being. Benefits of Increasing Testosterone.
Millions of U.S. males use testosterone therapy to reverse the hormone’s natural decline – at a risk. According to the New York Times, teststosterone has beeen perilously overprescribed – with some alarming consequences. Overselling Testosterone
Legal Consultation
The attorneys at CaseyGerry have decades of experience in pharmaceutical and medical device litigation. We are no longer accepting testosterone drug injury cases.
