AbbVie Has Tentative Plans To Exit Testosterone MDL

AbbVie Has Tentative Plans To Exit Testosterone MDL

Introduction

Closely following Actavis and Endo, AbbVie Inc. recently filed a statement in Illinois federal court about reaching on a tentative deal to settle all Testosterone lawsuits pending in the multidistrict litigation against them.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly confirmed in an order that the cases pending against Abbvie & its subsidiaries Abbott Laboratories, Solvay Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Unimed Pharmaceuticals LLC would enter a global settlement phase under confidential terms. AbbVie Inc. faces more than 4,500 lawsuits claiming the company did not caution about the risks of heart attacks, strokes and blood clots that could occur from using their Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT) drug AndroGel.

Endo International recently announced to settle all TRT claims against them in a separate track from the federal MDL. In June 2018, the company had agreed upon a $200 million tentative settlement for about 1,300 lawsuits. Actavis had admitted settling about 500 Androderm cases filed against it in July this year. Lawsuits filed against TRT providers accuse them of hiding health risks of injuries including heart attack, stroke, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, and sudden death. Currently, there are more than 5,900 lawsuits pending in the testosterone multidistrict litigation (MDL No. 2545; In Re: Testosterone Replacement Therapy Products Liability Litigation) presided by Judge Matthew Kennelly in the Northern District of Illinois.