Washington, D.C., Truvada Lawsuit Attorneys

Gilead Sciences Inc. allegedly sold a harmful product to individuals living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and now these innocent victims are suffering because of the company’s decision. Gilead Sciences is said to have concealed vital information about its antiretroviral medication, Truvada, from both the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and most importantly, consumers.

Now, users of the drug are developing bone and kidney complications because of prolonged usage of the drug.

And they are beginning to fight back.

Both individual and class-action lawsuits have been filed against Gilead with plaintiffs seeking compensation for the damages they have suffered as a result of using the defective drug. To do this, individuals across the United States are seeking experienced product liability lawyers who aren’t afraid of taking on the pharmaceutical giant.

That’s where we come in. The experienced Washington, D.C., Truvada lawsuit attorneys of Onder Law Firm have the legal prowess and determination necessary to wrest the compensation our clients need to recover from the hands of a greedy company that put salaries before their safety.

Contact the Washington, D.C., Truvada lawsuit attorneys of Onder Law Firm at (314) 310-7924 to get started on your FREE, no-obligation case review today.

What Is Truvada?

In 2001, Gilead began manufacturing Truvada in an effort to provide a meaningful treatment to an epidemic that had affected the lives of hundreds of thousands of individuals throughout the United States for decades. When taken with other HIV medications, Truvada helps to essentially stop the replication process of HIV-infected cells.

This was made possible by Truvada’s active ingredients, which are nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs):

Emtricitabine (FTC)
Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate (TDF)

TDF was the most effective at reducing activity levels in an enzyme (reverse transcriptase) which helps HIV replicate. But this came at a cost for users.

In order to be effective, considerable amounts of TDF must be taken. However, this is a cause of concern for users.

Users of Truvada began to experience troubling side effects and painful symptoms the longer they took the drug. Over time, bone and kidney complications left many wracked in pain while Gilead stuffed their pockets full of ill-gotten gains.

Gilead patent on Truvada enabled them to charge exorbitant amounts of money for Truvada, with individuals without insurance paying as much as $2,000 a month. Medicaid often intervened by establishing programs that could help these individuals cover the high costs, rewarding Gilead for its deception to the tune of $11 billion in Truvada sales annually.

Truvada’s Recent Legal Troubles

There is much more going on behind the scenes that Gilead refuses to explain. While the company has been the target of multiple lawsuits in the past, the current one tells the tale of how deceptive the company truly had to be in order to put profits over people.

In California, two gentlemen filed personal injury lawsuits and a class-action lawsuit against Gilead Sciences Inc., claiming that the company not only knew about the bone and kidney complications that Truvada is capable of causing, but decided to sell the product anyway. To make matters worse, the lawsuits also claim that Gilead shelved a safer alternative to secure more revenue off of their TDF-based product.

Tenofovir alafenamide fumarate (TAF) was considered a safer alternative to the TDF-based product since it was just as effective at reducing HIV replication but at a much smaller dose. Since less of the medication was needed to help manage a user’s condition, the risks of developing any bone or kidney side effects were meaningfully reduced.

Gilead decided to shelve TAF products for the time being and sell only their TDF-based medications first, taking full advantage of the patent until 2015 – and those living with HIV. Once the patent lapsed, however, Gilead would seize the market again by releasing TAF products as a “new and improved formula,” when in actuality, Gilead had begun research on both TDF and TAF at the same time back in 2001.

At Onder Law Firm, we strongly believe in the rights of our clients and in defending them against those who would harm them without batting an eye. We are determined to right the wrongs done against you. Contact us today at (314) 310-7924 for a FREE case evaluation.

The Side Effects of Prolonged Truvada Use

Excessive amounts of TDF are required for Truvada to effectively do its job. The problem with this, however, is that frequent and heavy use of TDF is what causes a multitude of complications. For those that have preexisting bone and kidney conditions, Truvada can make it worse.

Take, for instance, how TDF affects the user’s bones. Excessive amounts of TDF drain bones of calcium and other minerals they need to remain strong — a condition known as osteopenia. As bones continue to hemorrhage these precious minerals, they become brittle and more susceptible to fractures — a condition called osteoporosis.

Symptoms of bone complications that can stem from prolonged Truvada use are:

Extreme discomfort
Muscle pain
Worsening bone pain

On the other hand, TDF can cause a lot of damage to kidneys, the organs that are meant to filter out the excess TDF from the body. Over a long period of Truvada use, large quantities of TDF can cause the kidneys to overproduce serum creatinine — one of the first signs of chronic kidney disease. As the condition worsens, other kidney complications can arise, including:

Abnormal protein levels
Acute kidney injury
Fanconi’s syndrome
Low kidney function
Tubular dysfunction
Renal failure

If you or someone you love living with HIV has taken Truvada for a long duration of time and have felt any of the following symptoms, seek out medical attention immediately as you may have developed chronic kidney disease:

Anemia
Bruising
Changes in skin color
Confusion
Difficulty breathing
Fatigue
Inability to urinate
Muscle cramps
Nausea
Swelling
Vomiting
Weakness

Checking in with your doctor for worrisome symptoms is always a good decision, especially if you are a person living with HIV that has taken Truvada for quite some time. Not only will seeking medical care provide you with the treatment you need, it documents what you have suffered from, which can prove to be a pivotal piece of evidence.

Our experienced Washington, D.C., Truvada lawsuit attorneys are willing to fight tooth and nail against big pharmaceutical companies for you. Contact Onder Law Firm at (314) 310-7924 today to get started on your FREE case review.

Overview of Washington, D.C., HIV Facts and Statistics

People living with HIV are quite often the victims of bone and kidney complications caused by prolonged Truvada use. The following statistics put a face to those that may be suffering from both complications caused by HIV and TDF in the DC area.

In Washington, D.C., approximately 14,495 people were living with HIV in 2016. For every 100,000 people, 2,460 of them were living with the virus. From this total:

2 percent were African American.
9 percent were Caucasian.
9 percent were Hispanic/Latinx.

In 2017, a total of 319 new HIV diagnoses occurred, showing that males had contracted the virus from:

1 percent Male-to-Male Sexual Contact
8 percent Heterosexual Contact
2 percent Injection Drug Use
2 percent Male-to-Male Sexual Contact and Injection Drug Use

Women, on the other hand, were found to have contracted HIV from:

1 percent Heterosexual Contact
7 percent Injection Drug Use

Ultimately, 238 people that lived with HIV perished in 2016.

If you are taking Truvada, it would do you well to speak to your doctor regarding your concerns and to see if any safer alternatives exist.

How Onder Law Firm Can Help You

Product liability cases can be an uphill battle, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it isn’t worth doing. Pharmaceutical companies and their armies of lawyers and near-unlimited resources will try as hard as they can to discredit your case.

That’s why hiring any ordinary law firm won’t do.

You need experienced product liability attorneys that have tangled with massive companies before and won. With over $3 billion in verdicts and settlements won, the Washington, D.C., Truvada lawsuit attorneys of Onder Law Firm have the experience you need to bring Gilead to justice.

To do so, we must discuss all of the information regarding your injury at length in order to ensure that your claim is airtight. Your attorney needs to know all of the little intricacies of your story in order to find out what type of product liability claim you have:

Defective Design – Was the injury caused by a product that was inherently defective by design?
Defective Manufacturing – Did the product become defective at some point during the manufacturing process?
Failure to Warn Defect – If the product was inherently dangerous, did the manufacturer provide ample amounts of warnings, warranties, or instructions on how to use the product?

Failure within any of these categories means that the manufacturer could be held liable. If they are indeed found liable, your attorney can fight for any of the following damages that you incurred due to Gilead’s negligence:

Medical Bills (past, present, and future)
Pain and Suffering
Lost Wages (past, present, and future)
Loss of Earning Capacity
Loss of Quality of Life
Loss of Consortium
Emotional Damages
Wrongful Death Damages