Denial of Wyeth appeal in high court likely to affect pending HRT cases
August 8th, 2011 by Jennifer Walker-Journey
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals has lost its appeal to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in 14 consolidated cases alleging that its hormone replacement therapy (HRT) drugs had caused breast cancer. Trial lawyers say the decision, which makes the discovery rule an issue of fact for the jury, will likely affect the 15,000 HRT cases pending in lower court.
Each plaintiff in the consolidated lawsuits had filed suit against Wyeth more than two years after being diagnosed with breast cancer, which was outside the statute of limitations, but within two years of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study’s publication date in 2002. The study had established the link between HRT use and breast cancer, and the fact that doctors were not even aware of the dangers until WHI results were published.
In fact, in the years leading up to the WHI announcement, sales representatives were instructed by Wyeth to promote HRT as a safe treatment for menopausal symptoms and that the drugs helped protect women against cardiovascular disease and dementia. Wyeth even funded continuing medical education programs intended to convince physicians that there was no increased risk for breast cancer with HRT. Wyeth also provided training materials implying that the drugs would protect women from developing the disease.
Some Wyeth reps were compelled to write letters to the company’s ethics board expressing their concerns about misleading physicians and putting the public in danger.
“Given those facts,” plaintiffs argued in their brief to the state supreme court, “reasonable jurors applying the discovery rule could find that plaintiffs used reasonable diligence to discover that defendants caused plaintiffs’ cancer and file suit.”
The high court of Pennsylvania responded by denying Wyeth’s appeal, which trial lawyers say will likely impact thousands of pending HRT and breast cancer cases.