Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

Drug maker Wyeth paid ghostwriters to write articles for medical journals that were favorable to the company’s hormone replacement therapy (HRT) Prempro , even after the drug was found to raise a woman’s risk for breast cancer and other serious health concerns, according to newly unveiled court documents. Medical journals such as The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and The International Journal of Cardiology name doctors as authors of articles that typically involve heavily research topics and offer a judgment on how to treat a particular condition. It is believed that doctors are often swayed by those published opinions and may be influenced by them when prescribing medication to their patients.

According to court documents, ghostwriters for Wyeth wrote 26 articles that appeared in 18 different medical journals between 1998 and 2005 emphasizing that hormones protect against osteoporosis, heart disease and dementia and down-playing the risks. In 2001, Wyeth benefited by reaping nearly $2 billion in sales of its HRT drugs Premarin and Prempro, making them among of the most prescribed drugs in the U.S.

But at what cost did Wyeth benefit?

In 2002, the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), a research initiative initiated by the National Institutes of Health to look into some of the major health problems of older women, was abruptly halted after researchers found that menopausal women who took certain hormones had an increased risk of invasive breast cancer, heart disease and stroke. One of the thousands of victims is Geraldyne Frambs of Sacramento, Calif.

In the mid-1980s, Frambs was prescribed and began taking HRT. In 2003, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Now she wants justice. This week, attorney Ted G. Meadows with Beasley Allen Law Firm filed a lawsuit on behalf of Frambs against Wyeth Inc., Weyth Pharmaceuticals Inc., Pharmacia & Upjohn Company LLC, Pharmacia Corporation, Pharmacia & UpJohn LLC, Greenstone Ltd, Barr Laboratories Inc., Barr Pharmaceuticals and ESO Lederle Inc.

The lawsuit alleges that the cancer, subsequent surgery, treatment, injury and damage to Frambs were caused by her use of HRT. The complaint alleges that the defendants were negligent by not assuring that their products did not cause users to suffer from foreseeable unreasonably dangerous side effects and serious health problems, and that they should have known the serious risks women were put under by using drugs that were defective at the time of production. Furthermore, the complaint alleges that the defendants willfully deceived the plaintiff by concealing the true facts concerning the hormone therapy drugs, which the defendants, as manufacturers, marketers and distributors of the products, had a duty to disclose to the plaintiff.

The lawsuit seeks recovery of all monies the plaintiff paid for the products; to be compensated for the cost of medical care as a result of the use of the products including past medical expenses, wage loss, pain, suffering, disability and emotional distress.

Read Frambs’ complaint: Frambs v Wyeth (HRT Lawsuit)

Sources:
New York Times
Beasley Allen

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