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

The message was heard loud and clear – powerful drug companies that make billions from products they know pose a significant risk of life-threatening health consequences to the people who take them, owe their victims. Big time.

This week, Pfizer, which recently acquired Wyeth, the makers of the hormone replacement therapies (HRT) Prempro and Premarin, were hit with more than $100 million in two punitive-damage awards from Philadelphia juries. The two plaintiffs, Connie Barton and Donna Kendall, claimed the drugs caused their breast cancer.

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Women on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) who have no family history of breast cancer have the same risk of developing breast cancer as women with a family history who are on HRT, according to a University of Rochester Medical Center Study.

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Strong bones may make older, post-menopausal women at greater risk for breast cancer, according to a study conducted by University of Arizona, reported by KABC-TV in Los Angeles.

Bone scans are used to check for osteoporosis, a disease in which bones become fragile and more likely to break. Women are typically four times more likely than men to suffer from osteoporosis. Because there is a direct relationship between the lack of estrogen after menopause and the development of osteoporosis, most doctors advise older women to have bone density tests every year along with a mammogram.

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Breast cancer is a disease that affects women all around the world. One in eight women in the U.S. has the disease, one out of 10 in Europe, and one out of 11 in Australia. In Pakistan, the ratio is three in 10.

Earlier this week, as part of October’s international breast cancer awareness month, leaders from Liaquat National Hospital in Pakistan addressed the issue and their concern over why so many Pakistani women are still unaware of the disease, according to the Daily Times.

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Medications typically taken for pain relief may help reduce the risk of some breast cancers, according to a recent article in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Researchers analyzed data from 38 observational studies involving more than 2.7 million women to see whether taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as aspirin and ibuprofen, reduced risk of breast cancer. Inflammation may be a risk factor in cancer, the report says.

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According to the World Health Organization, breast cancer is the most common cancer worldwide among women. It is the fifth most deadly cancer, killing about 502,000 people per year. All of us know a family who has had to deal with this most serious problem.

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After four weeks of testimony and a full day of closing arguments, jurors will begin deliberating this morning to decide whether pharmaceutical giant Wyeth is responsible for the breast cancer suffered by three Northern Nevada women who took the company’s hormone replacement drugs.

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The Reno trial involving three breast cancer survivors who are suing Wyeth is now nearing the end of its fourth week. The Nevada plaintiffs are suing Wyeth, the manufacturer of Prempro and Premarin, after they each developed breast cancer attributed to their long-term use of combination hormone replacement drugs.

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