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Gilead Sciences Inc. is under scrutiny from 41 individuals who have taken HIV/AIDS medication made by the massive pharmaceutical company. These individuals, living with HIV/AIDS, had taken a TDF-based drug and PrEP medication that is thought to cause long-term damage to the kidneys and bones.
TDF, or Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate, is a drug for the purpose of treating individuals living with HIV/AIDS. It also goes under the brand name, Viread, produced by Gilead Sciences. It is now known that TDF causes long-term side effects—such as a buildup of lactic acid in the blood (lactic acidosis), liver problems, and new or increased kidney problems, possibly leading to kidney failure. In their claims, the 41 patients who had taken this PrEP HIV/AIDS medication stated that there was a safer alternative available that could have been used by Gilead Sciences: tenofovir alafenamide fumarate, or TAF. Presently, TAF does not have the same dangerous side effects that are seen with TDF, and even existed in the Gilead laboratories.
Therefore, the lawsuit argues that Gilead knew about the toxicity of TDF as early as 2001 and risked the potentially fatal side-effects in order to maximize the company’s profits. TDF is a component of several other drugs used to treat HIV/AIDS, such as Truvada, Viread, Atripla, Complera, and Stribild. As HIV/AIDS is a burden that many carry for life, long-term treatment is one of the only feasible ways to live with the disease. Because of this, there are thousands of other individuals who may have been unknowingly subjected to severe side-effects of these medications in order to live with the disease they have.
The Claims Against Gilead Sciences Inc.
The 41 plaintiffs who have come forward with their cases come from 12 states across the country: California, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio, and Virginia, but the reach could be much wider. This group of patients have filed personal injury claims against Gilead including: Strict products liability-failure to warn, negligence and gross negligence-design defect and failure to warn, fraud, and breach of express and implied warranty.
Taking Legal Action Against Pharmaceutical Companies
Every patient should have the right to safe medicine and should be given all available and relevant information about the drugs they are taking, including its potentially severe side effects.
At Whitley Law Firm, we value accurate information for consumers, and look to hold negligent companies accountable for their actions. If you believe that you or a loved one has experienced these serious effects of Gilead HIV/AIDS prescriptions, please do not hesitate to reach out to the compassionate and skilled attorneys at Whitley Law Firm.

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