Corbin man sues drug maker claiming medicine caused his stroke

A Corbin man is suing a major pharmaceutical company claiming its testosterone replacement therapy drug led to his stroke.

The lawsuit against Eli Lilly and Company and Lilly USA, LLC, was filed June 27 in U.S. District Court in London on behalf of Danny L. Wallen.

According to the complaint, 67-year-old Wallen was taking the prescription drug Axiron for approximately six months when he suffered the stroke.

As a result of the stroke, Wallen was hospitalized for six days and had to undergo approximately one month of in-patient rehabilitation.

 “Had defendants properly disclosed the risk associated with testosterone, plaintiff would have avoided the risk of stroke by either not using testosterone at all, severely limiting the dosage and length of use, and/or by closely monitoring the degree to which the drugs were adversely affecting his health,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit also alleges that Eli Lilly and Company increased the sale of Axiron by more than $100 million in 2013, as a result of an exponential increase in the number of diagnoses of low testosterone.

“However, consumers of Axiron were misled as to the drug’s safety and efficacy, and as a result have suffered injuries including life-threatening cardiac events, strokes, and thrombolytic events,” the lawsuit contends.

The plaintiffs noted that when the Food and Drug Administration approved Axiron for use in 2010, Eli Lilly and Company asserted that up to 13 million men over the age of 45 years in the U.S. may have symptoms associated with low testosterone.

However, a study published in the Journal of American Medical Association in August 2013 indicated that as many as one-third of the men who had been prescribed testosterone prescriptions were instead suffering from fatigue.

“The advertising campaigns suggest that various symptoms often associated with other conditions may be caused by low testosterone and encourage men to discuss testosterone replacement therapy with their doctors if they experienced any of the ‘symptoms’ of low testosterone,” the lawsuit states, noting the general symptoms may be the result of aging, weight gain or lifestyle, rather than low testosterone.

In the lawsuit, Wallen alleges negligence, fraud and negligent misrepresentation on the part of Eli Lilly and Company and asked for unspecified damages. 

No response has been filed on behalf of Eli Lilly and Company.