Yesterday, an Illinois federal jury has ruled that the pharmaceutical company AbbVie, Inc., must pay $150,000,000 in punitive damages to a former user of AndroGel, a testosterone replacement medication. The case was heard in federal court in Chicago, Illinois.
Jurors deliberated nearly five hours, over the course of two days, before finding that AbbVie falsely marketed the drug and was liable for fraud. Attorneys for the plaintiff, Jesse Mitchell of Oregon, argued that he suffered a near fatal heart attack in 2012 after using AndroGel.
“This verdict sends a very strong message to AbbVie, that it’s conduct in improperly marketing this drug to millions of off-label patients was wrong and warranted severe punishment,†said Troy Rafferty of Levin, Papantonio, Mitchell, Rafferty & Proctor, lead counsel in the case. “Mr. Mitchell was given his day in court and AbbVie was made to answer for its conduct that ultimately, nearly killed him. Justice was served today.â€
The legal team representing Mr. Mitchell also included Dave Buchanan at the Seeger Weiss Law Firm,Bill Robins at the law firm of Robins Cloud, and Stephanie O’Connor at Douglas and London. Thousands more cases remain pending as part of a multidistrict litigation before the Honorable Judge Matthew Kennelly in the Northern District of llinois.