› $150,000,000 verdict in personal injury case
A new study suggests that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may decrease the prevalence of peripheral arterial disease (PAD), even in women who had known risk factors such as smoking, hypertension, and high cholesterol. However, researchers are not suggesting women use HRT to prevent the condition as the drug has also been linked to cancer, strokes and other cardiovascular risks.
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.
“Not every woman requires (nor should every woman take) hormones,” writes Dr. K. Flood-Shaffer, associate professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, in MyHealthNewsDaily. “For the average woman in the perimenopausal or menopausal period, the reason to start a hormone regimen is very specific. Hormones are used to ease the symptoms of hot flushes (flashes), to control irregular bleeding or to treat vaginal dryness. There may be, in some women, an improvement in her overall sense of well being, improvement in sleep patterns or quality of sleep, or improvement in libido – but none of these are indications to start hormone therapy.”
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.
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.
Once thought of as a cure-all for a host of menopausal symptoms with benefits ranging from increased bone strength and protection against heart disease, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) continues to come under fire for causing more harm than good. Now researchers believe that women who survived breast cancer and then took HRT to relieve menopause symptoms may be at a significantly higher risk for breast cancer recurrence, according to Natural News.
How and when women take hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may affect their risk of heart attack, according to the Washington Post.
October is breast cancer awareness month, which makes it a perfect time for women currently taking or considering taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT), to assess their breast health.
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments today in the first of two cases this term that consumer advocates fear could shut courthouse doors to patients injured by FDA-approved drugs or medical devices.
Legal experts say the cases could also affect lawsuits already filed by tens of thousands of Americans challenging the safety of blockbuster drugs such as Celebrex and Prempro and a host of medical devices.
A Jasper County woman has filed a federal lawsuit against Pfizer and Wyeth, claiming the hormone therapy drugs manufactured by the pharmaceutical companies caused her breast cancer.
Scharlotte Fitzgerald says she began taking hormone replacement drugs in 1994. In 2001 she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Fitzgerald and her husband Larry filed a personal injury suit against the drug companies in the Beaumont Division of the Eastern District of Texas on Nov. 2. They are seeking in excess of $75,000 in damages.
“This lawsuit asserts claims for negligence; strict product liability for failure to warn, strict product liability for design defect; and breach of implied warranty against the defendants responsible for the design, manufacture, production, testing, study, inspection, mixture, labeling, marketing, advertising, sales, promotion and/or distribution of those hormone therapy products that caused her breast cancer,” the plaintiffs’ original complaint states.
The plaintiffs’ claim that the defendants had an obligation to provide warnings about risks and side effects of their hormone therapy drugs as soon as it was aware of them. The suit alleges that the drug companies failed to disclose “an increased incidence and risk of strokes, blood clots, heart attacks, breast cancers and ovarian cancer from these drugs.”
Plaintiffs also assert that the defendants made claims regarding health benefits of the drugs and should have known “that these claims were false and misleading.”
The defendants also gave a false impression that adequate pre-marketing clinical testing and research and post-marketing surveillance had been done, the plaintiffs claim.
“Plaintiff would not have ingested the hormone therapy drugs … or would have discontinued their use, or would have used safer alternative methods, had defendants disclosed the true health consequences, risks, and adverse effects, including the increased incidence and risk of breast cancer and other illnesses, caused by their hormone drugs,” the complaint states.
In the first claim against defendants, the plaintiff alleges that the companies were negligent by failing to exercise reasonable care in designing, manufacturing, testing and distributing the hormone replacement drugs.
“Defendants knew or should have known that their hormone therapy drugs caused unreasonable harm and dangerous side effects that many users would be unable to remedy by any means,” the petition states. “Despite this, defendants continued to promote and market their hormone therapy drugs for use by consumers, including plaintiff, when safer and more effective methods of countering the negative health effects of menopause were available.”
The petition also includes claims for strict liability through failure to warn and design defect.
“These hormone therapy drugs were each dangerous to an extent beyond that which would be contemplated by the ordinary consumer who purchased them,” the suit says. “They were more dangerous than plaintiff contemplated. The risk of each of these hormone therapy drugs outweighs its utility.”
The companies also breached implied warranty, the suit said, because the sold the drugs as being of “merchantable quality and safe and fit for their intended use.”
Scharlette Fitzgerald is seeking damages to exceed $75,000, attorney fees, costs of suit and other relief that the court may deem just and proper.
Her husband, Larry Fitzgerald is also seeking monetary damages for his loss of spousal services, society and companionship.
