Drug maker Wyeth received its third straight loss in product injury lawsuits involving its hormone replacement drugs like Prempro. Philadelphia jury ruled Prempro caused a woman’s breast cancer.
Pennsylvania product liability attorneys alert-jury deliberations determine hormone replacement drugs caused invasive breast cancer.
Philadelphia, PA–Pharmaceutical manufacturer Wyeth, which is being bought by international big pharma giant Pfizer, Inc., lost another civil litigation. Product liability attorneys representing an Illinois woman who developed breast cancer after taking their popular hormone replacement therapy drug, Prempro experienced initial victory in the first part of the lengthy drug injury claim after jury deliberations ended. As reported by Bloomberg, on September 25, 2009, the jury in the case of Barton v. Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc., 040406301, Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, deliberated for over two hours and concluded Wyeth’s drug, Prempro, was a proximate cause of the plaintiff’s breast cancer diagnosed in 2002.
Federal court documents reveal drug injury lawyers representing 64 year old, Connie Barton, asserted she developed breast cancer five years after she began taking the hormone replacement medication to treat her menopausal symptoms. The jury claims the Illinois woman deserves $3.7 million in compensation for damages she suffered as a result of developing invasive breast cancer from taking Prempro. Wyeth, based in Madison, New Jersey, still actively manufactures and markets the popular combination estrogen-progestin drug for treatment of common symptoms of menopause like hot flashes, night sweats, and mood swings.
A study in 2002, asserted the combination hormone replacement medication, Prempro, was linked to breast cancer and cardiovascular risks in woman. Prempro is a combination of Wyeth’s estrogen based Premarin with Pharmacia & Upjohn’s progestin-laden, Provera. Prempro remains approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment of menopause symptoms. The drug generated $1.1 billion in sales last year and Wyeth faces some 9,000 lawsuits over the menopause drugs. Pharmacia & Upjohn, a unit of Pfizer, Inc., is also named in thousands of the lawsuits as well. On October 1, 2009, jurors will begin to hear arguments by plaintiff’s attorneys on Wyeth’s liability in the cancer injury case and will determine if punitive damages will be recovered by Barton.
Pennsylvania drug injury lawyer information by legal news reporter Heather L. Ryan
