Product Liability Lawyer Blog
There are so many advertisements for low testosterone treatment with hormone therapy that it is almost impossible watch a football game on Sunday without hearing a soothing voice tell you how you can get rid of the normal signs of the male aging process by going to a so-called low T clinic.
You may be wondering why they are telling all men in and around their middle ages to get to one of these low T clinics instead of making an appointment with their primary care physician. There is a very good reason. The medical community is not convinced that testosterone therapy does anything for the majority of men who are taking the hormone. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) first approved testosterone therapy in the early 1970s to treat a medical condition known as hypogonadism. This is a very rare disease that involves an extremely low production of testosterone.
In order for a doctor to prescribe testosterone replacement therapy in accordance with FDA labeling requirements, the doctor would have to test the patient’s testosterone level and be satisfied it was at the very low level required by FDA regulations. With this low level of testosterone and at least one symptom, a doctor could prescribe hormone therapy.
Since the vast majority of men who go to low T clinics would never meet these guidelines, because they do not suffer from hypogonadism, the clinic does not do blood testing. They do not have to do so if they are treating for an off-label use. In order to treat for an off-label use, however, they must rely only on an observation of symptoms, and they are free to prescribe the medication.
The problem is that not only do most doctors not believe there is a medical benefit for the millions of men taking testosterone replacement drugs, the medication puts patients at higher risk for stroke and heart disease, which our Boston testosterone hormone injury attorneys have seen in many cases.
While one alternative to treating these men with testosterone hormone therapy is to simply not treating them, as may be the best course of action, a recent article from UPI shows that another alternative may be to restore testosterone production in men instead of replacing the hormone at low T clinics.
One reason some researchers are favoring restoration instead of replacing testosterone is because the topical solutions often used can lower a patient’s sperm count. On the other hand, restoration of production methods have shown to raise a man’s testosterone level without causing infertility. The drug they are experimenting with is called eclomiphene citrate. It was derived from an already existing drug that is designed to increase ovulation in women. It should be noted that these researchers are still concerned with patients who actually suffer from the rare condition of hypogonadism and not with the millions of aging men who are promised they will not longer have to suffer from fatigue, loss of muscle tissue, weight gain, erectile dysfunction (ED), loss of libido, and any number of things that happens to men when they get older.
Call the Boston Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers for a free and confidential appointment — (617) 777-7777.
Additional Resources:
Restoring testosterone production in men better than replacing it, October 27, 2015, UPI, By Stephen Feller
More Blog Entries:
FDA Announces Testosterone Meds Must Carry Broader Warning, July 7, 2014, Boston Products Liability Lawyers Blog