Pennsylvania Truvada Lawsuit Attorneys

Gilead Sciences Inc. is a prime example of how a company should not conduct business.

The drug manufacturing company is currently under a lot of legal heat because of the questionable business practices that have reaped huge profits while causing their consumers to suffer from debilitating side effects the company initially knew about.

But that’s not where this story ends. Users of their drug Truvada, a drug that controls the spread and growth of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)—are fighting back to correct what the company deliberately committed, and these victims are enlisting some of the best legal teams around like Onder Law Firm.

If Truvada use has caused you to suffer from painful bone and kidney side effects, our Pennsylvania Truvada lawsuit attorneys want to help you fight for the compensation you deserve.

Contact our experienced and dedicated Pennsylvania Truvada lawsuit attorneys of Onder Law Firm at (314) 310-7924 now to set up your FREE legal consultation.

Product Liability in Pennsylvania

Many people throughout the nation are filing product liability claims against Gilead for their defective product, Truvada. If you live in Pennsylvania and are filing a claim for the injuries you sustained from the medication, time is of the essence.

The statute of limitations in Pennsylvania—which is a limited time frame that you have in order to file a product liability claim—is two years from the time the accident occurred. Anything filed after that time frame wouldn’t be considered for compensation.

In certain circumstances, however, some adjustments to statute of limitations can be made as per Pennsylvania’s fraudulent concealment. Since Gilead concealed a lot of information regarding their product from both consumers and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the time limits for this particular case do not start until a reasonable person had heard of the defect, and since news only came out recently, the dial has been set all the way back to October 26, 2001.

The basis of product liability in Pennsylvania takes three main categories into consideration:

1. Defective Design – A defect in the product’s design caused the user injury. Two standards are also considered under this category:
2. The Consumer Expectations Standard – In this instance, the product was significantly more dangerous than what was initially expected by a reasonable consumer.
3. The Risk-Utility Standard – This standard considers whether the resulting injury derived from the product defect was serious enough or more likely to outweigh taking caution.
4. Manufacturing Defect – A flaw within the product’s design or caused during the manufacturing process is considered a manufacturing defect. This claim only focuses on the product and how it caused your injury, not if the company intended to harm or neglect its consumer.
5. Lack of Adequate Warning or Instructions – In some instances, products that are toxic, are choking hazards, contain hot elements, or contain other dangerous elements need special or adequate warnings or instructions in order to keep the consumer safe, and if the product lacks this—or provides vague, obscure information—the company can be held liable.

An experienced Truvada lawyer from Onder Law Firm can help you navigate through complex product liability law so that you can earn the compensation you need to recuperate.

Contact our Pennsylvania Truvada lawsuit attorneys at Onder Law Firm to begin your journey to maximum monetary compensation today.

Overview of Pennsylvania HIV Statistics

In Pennsylvania, as of 2016, 36,159 people are living their lives with HIV. That’s a rate of 332 people living with the virus out of every 100,000 residents.

Of the 36,159 residents living with HIV:

• 9 percent were African-American
• 8 percent were Hispanic/Latinx
• 7 percent were White
• 9 identified as a male
• 1 percent identified as female

Throughout the entire state, the counties most affected by the virus in 2016 include:

• Pike County – 132 people were living with HIV per 100,000.
• Union County – 146 people had been living with HIV per 100,000.
• Philadelphia County – 1,339 individuals had lived with HIV per 100,000.

The city of Philadelphia has around 19,147 people living with the virus, the majority of which are African-American. In fact, if African-Americans make up 43 percent of Philadelphia’s population, around 64 percent are affected by the virus as of 2017. Around 70 percent of new diagnoses in Philadelphia were among African-American men and women. This is equivalent to 7 times the rate of White women that develop the condition. Additionally:

• The majority of counties in Pennsylvania have average rates of people living with HIV below 100.
• Philadelphia County is the only county that has the lion’s share of people living with the virus when compared to the rest of the state.

Ultimately, HIV was the cause of death that claimed 583 lives in 2016, which is equivalent to 5 deaths of residents living with HIV per 100,000. Then in 2017, around 1,093 new cases of HIV were diagnosed, a rate of 10 new HIV diagnoses out of every 100,000 people. The most common forms of transmission in men were:

• Male-to-Male Sexual Contact (54 percent)
• Male-to-Male Sexual Contact and Injection Use (6.6 percent)
• Heterosexual Contact (19.2 percent)
• Injection Drug Use (18.9 percent)
• Other (1.3 percent)

On the other hand, many Pennsylvanian women contracted the virus through:

• Heterosexual Contact (70.5 percent)
• Injection Drug Use (26.7 percent)
• Other (2.8 percent)

Learn more about Groups Affected by Truvada

The Most Recent Gilead Lawsuit

For over 30 years in operation, Gilead has been the focus of multiple lawsuits for many of their questionable business practices. The company has been sued for their alleged roles in paying off doctor’s yearly salaries as an incentive to sell their products. Other times, Gilead was sued for lying to the FDA when they acquired contaminated ingredients from an unapproved source in China.

But now, Gilead is being sued again for actions that could be considered more devious than the previous reasons. Two gentlemen in California filed a lawsuit against the drug manufacturing giant, alleging that Gilead Sciences Inc. withheld a safer alternative drug that acts just as efficiently as its TDF counterparts at much smaller, safer doses.

The company then decided to sell their harmful TDF-based medicines like Truvada to the populace, knowing full well about the negative side effects they were capable of. This decision would secure their patent on their TDF products until 2015, where they would then sell their safer alternatives—known as tenofovir alafenamide fumarate (TAF)—as a new and improved formula. Since Gilead had a tight hold on the patents, they were able to charge exorbitant prices for these drugs, which ultimately generated around $11 billion in Truvada sales yearly.

Now, the two gentlemen filing personal injury lawsuits against Gilead are also filing a class action lawsuit aimed at inviting others who have used the drug and have suffered painful bone and kidney problems to come forward and fight for the compensation that is owed to them.

This lawsuit does more than right a most grievous wrong by supplying financial relief to those suffering from injuries and mounting debt caused by Truvada use. It sends out a message to pharmaceutical companies that this type of behavior is unacceptable.

The Pennsylvania Truvada lawsuit attorneys of Onder Law Firm want to do their part in helping these victims find relief from wrongs committed against them by a company that put profits over people.

Contact Onder Law Firm at (314) 310-7924 to set up your FREE legal consultation today.

The Complications Caused By Truvada

TDF targets a hormone called reverse transcriptase. This hormone stimulates the growth of HIV-infected cells, and when TDF enters the body, it stops the hormone’s activity. This causes HIV to stop its replication process. In order to do this, however, vast amounts of TDF are required.

Oftentimes, this excess that is still within the body of the user can drain bones of its vital calcium and other minerals that strengthen them. This process is known as bone demineralization.

When bone density is lost, your bones become more brittle, leaving them susceptible to:

• Discomfort in Extremities
• Decreased Bone Mineral Density
• Bone Deterioration or Osteoporosis
• Bone Loss or Osteopenia
• Dental Complications (e.g. Tooth Decay and Loss)
• Bone Fractures

For the record, around 6,000 Truvada users suffered from broken bones while using the drug. However, this isn’t the only damage to the body that TDF can cause. The body sends over excess TDF and calcium to the kidneys in order to flush it all out of the system through urine. This can cause kidneys to develop:

• Chronic Kidney Disease
• Declining Kidney Function/Decreased Urination
• Acute Kidney Injury
• Acute Renal Failure
• Fanconi Syndrome
• Kidney Failure

Those suffering from preexisting conditions that affect bones and kidneys can develop worsening conditions because of Truvada. Moreover, Truvada has also been linked to the development of lactic acidosis, a condition where the body becomes more acidic and can cause muscle aches, burning sensations, stomach cramps, nausea, rapid breathing, and even death.

If you suffer from any of these negative side effects because of your Truvada use, the Pennsylvania Truvada lawsuit attorneys of Onder Law Firm have the legal experience and resources you need to earn the compensation you deserve. Contact us at (314) 310-7924 to schedule your FREE legal consultation today.