Prempro and Premarin Lawsuit Filed Second suit filed against Wyeth

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Prempro and Premarin Lawsuit FiledSecond suit filed against Wyeth By EVE BYRON - Helena Independent Record Staff Writer - Jan. 5, 05 http://www.fund4horses.org/info.php?id=468A second Lewis and Clark County resident has filed a lawsuit against pharmaceutical giant Wyeth Inc., and two other drug companies, as well as Wyeth's subsidiaries, alleging the company's hormone replacement products caused her to develop breast cancer. In documents filed in U.S. District Court in Helena, Renee Harris seeks $75,000 in damages, plus additional money to "punish and make an example of" the corporations Wyeth, Pfizer and Parmacia & Upjohn and their individual top officials.Last month, Joan Reichert of Helena filed a similar federal court lawsuit against Wyeth, alleging its hormone therapy drugs Prempro and Premarin created blood clots in her body. She is seeking more than $10 million in punitive damages, plus an undisclosed sum for actual damages.A spokesman for Wyeth, Lowell Weiner, said he hadn't seen the recent lawsuits, so he couldn't comment on them.In their lawsuits, both Harris and Reichert claim that Wyeth downplayed significant health threats while promoting the menopause medications that permanently injured them. Harris targeted the brands Premarin, Provera and Prempro, plus their generic equivalents, which recent studies linked to an increase not only in breast cancer and blood clots, but also heart attacks and strokes.According to the most recent lawsuit, Harris claims the pharmaceutical companies tested, studied, designed, produced, marketed, promoted, packaged or otherwise placed these three drugs and their generic equivalents into the public stream of commerce. The drugs consist of estrogens and progestin, or a combination of those elements.The drugs were marketed to women going through menopause, and for the past 30 years doctors were advised that the best strategy was to keep menopausal women on them for as long as possible to relieve symptoms including sleeplessness and mood swings.Harris claims that through the marketing and advertising efforts, "… the defendants have convinced doctors and patients that menopause was not the natural process of aging; instead turning that process into a disease in need of drug treatment."The lawsuit states that as a result of these marketing efforts, Premarin became the most frequently dispensed prescription drug in the United States in the early 1990s, with more than $1 billion in sales by 2000.But a study by the federal National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute involving hormone replacement drugs was abruptly halted in 2002, after doctors concluded that the risks of taking Prempro outweighed its benefits.Harris also claims that later studies showed that not only did the hormone replacement therapy stimulate the growth of breast cancer, it also made the tumors more difficult to diagnose, leading to dangerous delays in treatment.She said the warnings and labelings by the drug companies were "inadequate, misleading and inaccurate" and minimized the risk of their dangers while exaggerating their "purported benefits."Since the studies, Wyeth officials are promoting lower doses of estrogen be used in treating menopause for a shorter period of time than was prescribed in the past. The company also encourages women to consult their health care professionals to discuss whether Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) is right for them.In an October 2004 press release, the company states that "Its low dose hormone therapies are part of a family of well-studied products, which includes multiple strengths of Premarin and Prempro. Currently taken by over 4 million women in the United States alone, these products are prescribed more often than any other brand of postmenopausal hormone therapy."Both Reichert and Harris have requested a jury trial in Helena. ###RESOURCES:Three Sue Drug Firm Alleging Hormone Caused Cancer, Clots F4H: Issues: Slaughter-PMUs F4H: Resources: Issues: Premarin Mares and Foals Home - About the Fund - Get Involved - Message BoardEducation - Issues - Homes 4 Horses - Resources - Site Map