AbbVie Inc. has been ordered to pay $150 million after a man in Oregon suffered a heart attack that was allegedly caused by the company’s AndroGel testosterone booster.
The man accused the pharmaceutical company of hiding the heart attack risks linked to its drug. Specifically, AbbVie is alleged to have misled Oregon’s Jesse Mitchell and his doctor about AndroGel’s propensity for causing blood clots – a condition that can lead to fatal heart attacks.
A federal court jury in Chicago delivered the verdict on Monday.
Mitchell, a 54-year old laundromat manager, suffered a heart attack in 2012 after taking AndroGel for four years.
AbbVie’s shares fell 1% after the verdict was released. However, legal experts do not expect the charges to stand.
There is some controversy over the decision. The result of the trial will likely not stand because the jurors awarded no compensation to Mitchell for injuries. The panel awarded him nothing for his claim for compensatory damages from the heart attack – including medical expenses and pain and suffering.
However, the 11 members of the jury still hit AbbVie with $150 million in punitive damages after discovering that company officials made fraudulent misrepresentations about the product’s safety profile.
$150 million in damages may sound like a devastating amount. However, the punishment award will likely be overturned because the US Supreme Court has previously ruled that awards based on actual damages need to be reasonable.
Adelle Infante, a spokeswoman for AbbVie, maintains that AndroGel didn’t cause Mitchell any damage, and that’s why Mitchell wasn’t awarded any compensation for his injuries:
“We expect the punitive damage award will not stand,” Infante added in an email to Bloomberg.
What Does This Mean For Other Low T Drugs And Lawsuits?
As the Baby Boomer generation ages, the use of testosterone drugs like AndroGel has surged. Aging men are searching for ways to recapture the vitality of their youth. AndroGel alone generated $675 million in sales last year, down from a high of $1.1 billion in 2012.
AbbVie and other drug manufacturers have been accused of downplaying the side effects of testosterone drugs. AbbVie Low T became particularly notorious in 2012 when it launched a campaign to promote the use of AndroGel against a condition known as “Low T”, or low testosterone.
In American television ads, AndroGel was promoted as a way to solve low energy and lack of sex drive under the slogan, “Is it Low T?”. The campaign was targeted towards middle-aged men interested in recapturing the vitality of their youth.
That marketing campaign was controversial because the FDA had approved the drug in 2011 only for men who suffered from hypogonadism – a severe loss of testosterone. It wasn’t approved as a way for men to replenish testosterone lost through the natural process of aging.
Mitchell claims he used AndroGel from 2008 to 2012 after seeing television ads for the drug.
After the advertising campaign concluded, US regulators moved to strengthen safety warnings – especially after the use of low T drugs was found to increase the risks of heart attacks and strokes by almost 30%.
In any case, AbbVie insists that Mitchell’s heart attack wasn’t caused by AndroGel. The company’s lawyers blamed the heart attack on other factors, including weight, high cholesterol, and a history of smoking since age 16.
Stay tuned to see what this means for other testosterone drug lawsuits also making their way through the court system – including other lawsuits against AbbVie Low T and AndroGel.
