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.

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Researchers in Ottawa, Canada are hoping to ease women’s fear of hormone replacement drugs by creating and testing synthetic hormones to combat aggravating symptoms of menopause, according to Canada.com. The research follows an earlier grant from the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation to explore the re-engineering of estrogen estradiol, which is one of the components of the popular hormone replacement therapy (HRT) Premarin. The new grant, funded by a $267,000 research grant from the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, seeks to evaluate those compounds of synthesized molecules on the liver, cardiac and other types of cells. The goal is that it must relieve menopausal symptoms while not promoting breast or uterine cancer.

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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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Nevada’s attorney general is suing drug makers Wyeth and Pfizer for alleged deceptive trade practices and misleading the public about the safety of its hormone replacement therapy (HRT) drugs, according to RGJ.com.

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Wyeth Pharmaceuticals recently announced FDA approval of its Premarin Vaginal Cream to treat moderate to severe dyspareunia, or painful sexual intercourse, according to RTT News.

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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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Drug maker Wyeth has developed and is actively testing a new drug to treat menopause. The drug, named Aprela, has shown favorable results in the initial studies. Current evidence gathered in the study suggests that the drug may pose fewer risks and milder side effects than Prempro and Premarin, Wyeth’s other menopause drugs.

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A North Dakota woman has filed a federal lawsuit against several pharmaceutical companies, claiming the hormone replacement drugs she was prescribed led to breast cancer. Sharon Hesch of Minot, is seeking at least $75,000 and additional punitive damages against Wyeth Inc., Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc., Pharmacia and Upjohn Co., and Pfizer, Inc. Hesch”s husband, James, is included as a plaintiff.

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Wyeth must pay $134.1 million, including $99 million in punitive damages, over its mishandling of menopause drugs that helped cause three Nevada women’s cancers, a jury ruled.

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Pharmaceutical giant Wyeth, ordered by a Washoe County jury to pay millions to three Northern Nevada women who claimed the company’s hormone replacement drugs caused their breast cancer, also is fighting more than 5,000 legal battles, a spokesman said Thursday.

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