The various medical injuries are the main reason for how many medicines are sold in the medical market. One of the types of effective medicine is Truvada produced as a preventative measure (PrEP), especially for HIV/AIDS. However, the Truvada lawsuits against Gilead Sciences with accusations of injuries caused by drugs.
How can this drug be this dangerous? This article will fully examine this case and the current updates.
Truvada Lawsuits Claim History
HIV or Human Immunodeficiency Virus has been spreading away through the years. This syndrome is supposed to have a specific enzyme in the body to grow and replicate itself.
Yet, when TDF (Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate) becomes more complex and absorbed by HIV, there is no way for that one enzyme to grow and replicate. This event will restrain HIV and develop into AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) instead.
Therefore, Gilead Sciences produces a drug called Truvada which is supposed to prevent HIV. Truvada uses TDF to support the content to be able to block HIV cells from activity to replicate and grow. However, according to several studies that analyzed TDF, this ingredient is kind of risky and fatal.
TDF in Truvada is called toxic for human kidneys and bones. This drug is dangerous and also able to produce serious injury permanently. In this case, Gilead acknowledges the danger of their product, but they still manage to produce and sell it in the market.
The plaintiff or the consumer of Truvada made a bunch of allegations against Gilead. Truvada lawsuits accuse the manufacturer of fraud on purpose to avoid fraud by reducing the proof that Truvada has a high risk as a toxic drug. Further, the patients would not be aware of its harmful reaction toward the body’s immune system.
Truvada Lawsuits Update
Furthermore, this lawsuit has been updated through the years from numerous claims submitted to the court. Below is the list of how the lawsuit of Truvada is going.
1. California Federal Consolidated Cases (September 2023)
The federal multidistrict litigation along with the Northern District of California judge to handle the Truvada case in September 2023. The court already declined several claims. The plaintiff reported that this medicine can result in serious injuries, even with their alternative drug options.
2. California State Consolidated Cases (September 2023)
In addition, in September 2023, the First District Appellate Court of California received Gilead’s claim. They denied the fraud of Truvada’s serious side effects and selling it publicly to gain maximum profits.
Gilead submits an accusation that the plaintiff is making a new belief that the manufacturer is indeed producing dangerous products. The submission of the Truvada lawsuits has been sent to the California Supreme Court for Gilead’s appeal.
3. Price-Fixing Class Action Suit
Furthermore, the California Federal Court approved a class action settlement of up to $246.75 million on November 13th, 2023. The amount of settlement directly presented to plaintiffs who are affected by Truvada and Atripla.
The plaintiff sent other lawsuits with a claim Gilead seemingly had a monopoly over their product’s price net. Additionally, working with a foreign manufacturer to put off the generic type of HIV drugs. However, in June 2023, the court found that Gilead was not responsible for product violations.
4. Truvada Lawsuits in December 2023
Recently, the court briefed a legal standard of the Truvada case to determine the defective type of drug from Gilead. During the examination, the court sees several points of view. This way is to decide whether they should be seeing the high-risk side effects of Truvada or to consider alternative drugs.
Fact-digging is still ongoing by the court to make sure of the true intention behind Truvada. Decision making based on whether it is an acceptable defective drug or if plaintiffs retain actions for negligent defect of the product.
In addition, the court also took a look at the plaintiff’s negligence claim over Geliad’s statement of Truvada. Gilead passionately argues that their alternative drugs are safer than Truvada itself and become a substitute.
Injuries Alleged within the Truvada Lawsuits
The Truvada case lawsuits mainly mention that Gilead knows their product is highly toxic for health, especially kidneys and bones. Yet, this manufacturer does not admit what they acknowledge about their own product.
Through Truvada lawsuits, there are several effects on human kidneys and bones due to the consumption of Truvada, such as:
1. Kidneys Damage
In 2001, Truvada became a well-known drug in the market. However, there was the first claim file of this medicine’s high risk to kidneys. This statement becomes stronger because the product’s ingredient contains TDF which causes such high-risk kidney injury.
Additionally, there are several allegations in Truvada lawsuits related to kidney injury due to the consumption of Truvada and other Gilead’s alternative products. Below is the list of accusations within the report related to the dangerous side effects of Truvada instead of preventing HIV/AIDS.
- Acute kidney injury.
- Acute renal failure.
- Chronic kidney syndrome.
- Fanconi syndrome occurs abnormally to absorb the blood but comes out in urine instead.
- Kidney tubular dysfunction.
2. Bone Density Loss
HIV/AIDS is a syndrome type that needs to be cured in a certain way with a particular medicine. In a study from Grace A. McComsey in 2018, TDF is a drug type that is linked to healing HIV along with antiretroviral therapy.
However, the use of TDF with ART is risky for bone density. Continual consumption of these drugs would cause several syndromes such as Osteoporosis which appears to weaken and brittle bones. In addition, Osteopenia or bone loss and weakened bone fractures also become a result of Truvada consumption.
Truvada Lawsuits for Your Justice!
HIV/AIDS becomes a crucial issue year by year. This syndrome has been spread away and makes the patients have to suffer with certain cures. Therefore, there is a drug type that could cure HIV/AIDS called Truvada produced by Gilead Sciences. Gilead provided alternatives for patients such as Atripla to cure HIV/AIDS.
However, the content of TDF inside the drug makes this medicine dangerous, resulting in kidney injury and bone loss. Truvada lawsuits legally allege Gilead for their negligent intention to monopolize their products and alternatives. Further, the lawsuit is still going up to January 2024 and the settlement has already paid off.