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

A class-action lawsuit on behalf of women who say they developed breast cancer after taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT), was certified by the British Columbia Supreme Court this week. The lawsuit alleges the makers of the HRTs Premarin and Premplus failed to warn patients about studies that showed a link between HRT and breast cancer. The lawsuit also claims that the company went to extraordinary measures to sway doctors and downplay any publicized risks associated with the drugs.

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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.

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A drop in breast cancer rates in Canada in the past 10 years goes hand-in-hand with a decrease in the use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), according to a new study.

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Charles H. Payne was told he was being insubordinate to his manager when the Wyeth-Ayerst Territory Manager first raised concerns about promoting the drug company’s hormone replacement therapies (HRT) Premarin and Prempro to physicians for indications that were not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The 22-year veteran of the company decided to take the issue to Wyeth-Ayerst’s Office of Ethics and Business Conduct.

In a letter dated July 18, 2000, Payne wrote that he had been given written presentations from company management to promote the drugs for conditions such as the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease and of cardiovascular disease. The drugs are only approved for the treatment of menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes and vaginal dryness.

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In July 2000, Cynthia L. Waldrep was a territory specialist with Wyeth-Ayerst’s female healthcare division, promoting the company’s pharmaceuticals to doctors throughout Alabama and Georgia, when her conscience led her to write a letter to Wyeth’s executives and to the company’s Office of Ethics and Business Conduct.

“Instruction from my management for promotion of products … has included information outside of labeling. In other words, core presentations for promotion contain information that the FDA has not granted approval for use with these drugs. Specifically, the use of Premarin for the prevention/treatment of cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and colorectal cancer. Additionally, the issue of potential side effects has been minimized, such as the risk of breast cancer,” she wrote.

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Women who took Wyeth’s hormone replacement therapy (HRT) Prempro at least five years are at greater risk of dying from non-small cell lung cancer, according to a recent study presented at an American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting.

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A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reveals that women who took hormone replacement therapy (HRT) face an increased risk of cancer several years after stopping the treatment, according to an NPR report.

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In the 1960s, a New York gynecologist wrote a book called “Feminine Forever,” in which he recommended estrogen for menopause, stating that women on the hormone replacement drug “will be much more pleasant to live with and will not become dull and unattractive.”

Wyeth Pharmaceuticals caught wind of the book and its author’s claims that estrogen reduced a woman’s risk for both breast and genital cancers, and began distributing the book to physicians across the country. Soon after, sales of Wyeth’s HRT drug Premarin took off, growing to more than 30 million prescriptions each year.

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Two years ago, M.D. Anderson researchers announced a 7 percent drop in breast cancer rates which coincidentally occurred around the same time that women were being told by the media and their doctors of the possible link between hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and serious diseases and conditions such as breast cancer and heart disease.

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