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

For years, Mrs. Smith* chose not to take hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to treat bothersome symptoms of menopause. During menopause, some women become “estrogen deficient” – their estrogen level drops so low that they experience symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats and vaginal dryness that can be so severe it interferes with a woman’s quality of life.

Mrs. Smith talked to her doctor, who recommended Prempro, a pill made by Wyeth that contains a mixture of estrogen and synthetic progestin hormones. The pills were also marketed to doctors and women as a miracle drug that tamed not only menopausal symptoms but also had the added benefit of protecting women against heart disease and osteoporosis. HRT became widely prescribed, and Wyeth racked in billions in profits.

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New research on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and birth control pills could leave women even more confused about the risks and benefits of the drugs, doctors warn. The research, published in the Journal of NeuroInterventional Surgery, suggests that pills containing estrogen may help lower the risk for brain aneurysms. The news follows a tidal wave of studies that linked HRT to breast cancer and other deadly conditions including ovarian cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, heart attack, stroke and blood clots.

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Thousands of women who claim their hormone replacement therapy (HRT) caused them to develop breast cancer and other deadly diseases and conditions may finally have some resolution, now that Pfizer Inc. has announced it expects to shell out an additional $300 million to settle the last of more than 10,000 product liability lawsuits. The drug giant has already paid $472 million to settle with plaintiffs.

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Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is blamed for increasing a woman’s risk of breast and ovarian cancer, heart attacks and strokes. Now, a new research study shows the pills also increase women’s risk of developing painful kidney stones.

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Use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) among postmenopausal women has been linked to a sharply increased risk of ovarian cancer, according to a study conducted by a team of researchers in Denmark. The study included data from 900,000 Danish women ages 50 to 79 over eight years and found 140 extra cases of ovarian cancer – or a 38 percent greater risk of contracting the disease compared to women who did not use HRT.

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A federal study revealed that the pharmaceutical company Wyeth paid ghostwriters to write articles for medical journals that were favorable to the drug company’s hormone replacement therapy (HRT) Prempro, even after the drug was found to raise a woman’s risk for breast cancer, according to the New York Times.

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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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Wyeth, the pharmaceutical company that makes hormone replacement therapies Prempro and Premarin, announced today that it is ending its research in its signature areas of contraceptives and menopause treatments to focus on other female problems such as ovarian and breast cancers, according to the Associated Press/Washington Post.

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Ovarian cancer is the deadliest of all gynecologic cancers, expected to kill about 15,000 women in 2008, according to the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance. Risk factors remain a mystery; however, researchers believe a woman is at increased risk if she has a family history of cancer, personal history of cancer, is older than 55, has never been pregnant, and has used menopausal hormone therapy.

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A St. Clair County woman claims her use of hormone replacement therapy drugs caused her to develop breast cancer. Minnie Louise Gray and her husband John E. Gray filed an 11-count lawsuit against Wyeth, Inc. over its drug Prempro, which is used by post-menopausal women. The lawsuit also names Walgreen as a defendant for having sold the drug to Gray.

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