Maker of Prempro being sued by more than 4,000 women

By Elizabeth Rhein

Published on April 30, 2006

Prempro, which was approved by the FDA in 1995, is commonly prescribed to menopausal women to combat symptoms such as osteoporosis, night sweats and hot flashes. Now, thousands of women are accusing the manufacturer of Prempro, Wyeth, of not properly disclosing the risks associated with taking the hormone based drugs.

The first such case, scheduled to begin in late July, has been filed by a patient named Linda Reeves who underwent a mastectomy due to breast cancer that she says was caused by eight years of Prempro use. Her lawyer is Jim Morris, who has previously won cases against Wyeth's notorious fen-phen drug.

Many other women tell stories similar to Reeves', alleging that Wyeth could have and should have alerted doctors and patients to the increased risk of breast cancer while using Prempro. A Wyeth spokesperson has stated that the drug is not responsible for causing any cancer cases and shouldn't be compared to other defective drugs, such as Vioxx, because the FDA has not seriously looked into Prempro from the market.

If you have taken or are currently taking Prempro and are concerned about the risks, you should talk to your doctor to discuss your options.

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