HRT breast cancer case thrown out of court

Nov 4 2007

A woman who claimed hormone replacement therapy (HRT) caused her breast cancer has had her case thrown out of court.

Patricia Zandi blames her use of the HRT drugs Premarin and Prempro for her breast cancer; the drugs are manufactured by drug company Wyeth.

Judge George F. McGunnigle of state district court in Minnesota dismissed the product liability lawsuit against Wyeth on the grounds that Zandi did not show scientific proof that this was actually the case.

Judge McGunnigle said in his dismissal of the case that Zandi, had not offered any scientifically valid evidence to support her claim that she had developed breast cancer as a result using Wyeth's Premarin and Prempro.

The court concluded that "the scientific community has not accepted that breast cancer has a limited number of discrete and recognized possible causes such that ruling out one cause would implicate another."

The case had been scheduled to go to trial in January but Wyeth is still facing more than 5,000 lawsuits from those who believe they were harmed by the hormone replacement drugs, which have been used by millions of women to control the effects of menopause.

The drugs remain on the market and earned Wyeth more than 1 billion dollars last year.