The lawsuit was filed by Jesse Mitchell, a 54 year-old man from Oregon who was prescribed AndroGel for low testosterone and problems with fatigue and depression. He used AndroGel for nearly 5 years before he suffered a heart attack in 2012.
The jury found that AndroGel caused his heart attack, and awarded $200,000 in compensatory damages, including $150,000 for economic damages and $50,000 in non-economic damages like pain and suffering. He was also awarded $2 million in punitive damages.
The verdict came after a 2-week retrial. The original trial last summer ended in a jury awarding $150 million to Mitchell in punitive damages, but nothing in compensatory damages.
Lawyers for AbbVie Inc., the manufacturer of AndroGel, argued that Mitchell had a heart attack because he was a pack-a-day smoker with high blood pressure, obesity, and a family history of heart attacks.
Lawyers for Mitchell agued that AbbVie intentionally advertised AndroGel for unapproved uses like fatigue or depression, saying these common ailments were symptoms of “Low T.”
They say AbbVie knew it could make a huge profit by selling testosterone therapy to millions of middle-aged men who did not actually have a medical condition that was causing low testosterone.
The case is In RE: Mitchell et al. v. AbbVie Inc. et al. — Case No. 1:14-cv-09178 — and the MDL is In re: Testosterone Replacement Therapy Products Liability Litigation, both in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.