Claims against AndroGel manufacturer AbbVie were rejected by the jury in Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois; thereby, ruling in favor of the defendant. Allegations faced by AbbVie included failure to warn the plaintiff, James Couch, and his doctor about the risks associated with AndroGel, strict liability, negligence, breach of implied warranty, negligent misrepresentation and willful and wanton conduct. The trial went on for more-than-two-weeks and was a part of an MDL-based in Illinois federal court.
Couch approached his doctor for a check on his thyroid level being influenced by the ads. He suffered a heart attack six months later for which he was implanted with a defibrillator in his chest. This decision by the court stemmed from the fact that the plaintiff had stopped using AndroGel two months before his heart attack, re-filling his prescription only twice between receiving it in February 2013 and his heart attack. The first bellwether trial verdict for AndroGel came in June 2017, wherein $150 million punitive damages was awarded to the plaintiff with no compensatory amount. The defendant and plaintiffs have both filed post-trial motions for the judge to depict the verdict in their favor without ordering a totally new trial.
