The children of  John B. Peuler  are suing Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, the maker of Testim, for  wrongful death after he suffered fatal heart attack after taking the testosterone replacement therapy.

According to the lawsuit filed by Jeffrey D. Peuler and Jennifer P. Gillen on March 21, their father used Testim testosterone gel as directed from  April 2012, until his death in March 2013. Testim is prescribed as treatment for men suffering testosterone deficiency, commonly known as “Low T.”

“Auxilium convinced millions of men to discuss testosterone replacement therapy with their doctors, and consumers and their physicians relied on Auxilium’s promises of safety and ease,” the Testim lawsuit states. “What consumers received, however, were not safe drugs; instead they received products which cause life threatening problems, including strokes and heart attacks.

Studies have shown that testosterone therapy causes a sudden increase in hematocrit, hemoglobin and estradion. This results to an increase risk of heart attack and stroke.

The Testim testosterone gel lawsuit alleges that Auxilium “knew or, in the exercise of reasonable care, should have known that its product, Testim, was defectively designed, unreasonable dangerous in normal use, and highly likely to cause injury or death,  but it failed to provide adequate warnings about these known risks.”

Prior to taking the medication,  the victim had no history of blood clots, diabetes, strokes, or significant cardiovascular problems, according to the lawsuit.

The Testim injury lawsuit contends that Peuler may have avoided the risk of cardiac injury and death by either “not using testosterone replacement therapy at all, severely limiting the dosage and length of use, and/or by closely monitoring the degree to which the drugs were adversely affecting his health.”