Jury dismisses lawsuit against Wyeth in first Pempro case

Sep 20 2006

A jury in a U.S. District Court in Little Rock, Ark., on Friday dismissed negligence charges in the first of about 5,000 lawsuits filed over Prempro, a combination hormone replacement therapy manufactured by Wyeth, and found the drug's design was not defective, Reuters reports (Barnes, Reuters, 9/15).

As many as six million women had taken Prempro, which contains estrogen and progestin, to treat menopause symptoms before results from the Women's Health Initiative, released in 2002, linked the medication to a 24% increase in risk for invasive breast cancer and other health risks.

According to the NIH Web site, the increased risk translates to eight additional cases of breast cancer per 10,000 women annually.

In the first Prempro lawsuit to reach trial, plaintiff Linda Reeves alleged that the medication, which she took for eight years, caused her to develop breast cancer.

According to the lawsuit, Wyeth was aware of the link between Prempro and increased risk for breast cancer prior to the release of the WHI results but did not inform the public.

Wyeth has denied the allegations and has said that there is a warning about increased risk for breast cancer on the Prempro label (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 8/25).

In addition, Wyeth attorneys said the company provided information sheets about the drug to Reeves and her physician, which Reeves said she did not read, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports.

Wyeth attorney Lyn Pruitt said the jury's ruling is an "excellent" indicator of the outcome of other legal challenges involving the Prempro, adding, "Hundreds of thousands of doctors across the country still prescribe these products because they also believe they are excellent products with great benefits."

Reeves' attorney, Zoe Littlepage, who also is representing other clients who have filed lawsuits against Wyeth scheduled for trial, said she is saddened by the ruling, adding, "I think you'll see over the next year as we try these cases, the women will win some and Wyeth will win some.

You never expect to win them all." Arguments in a lawsuit filed against Wyeth by a woman from Ohio began in a state court in Philadelphia on Friday, and a federal lawsuit involving Prempro use is scheduled for January in Little Rock (DeMillo, AP/Houston Chronicle, 9/15).