The case

An Arkansas woman developed breast cancer and had to undergo a double mastectomy after taking HRT drugs for over 10 years. She sued Wyeth and Upjohn and was initially awarded $2.75 million on February 25, 2008. The jury then awarded her $27 million in punitive damages for the pharmaceutical companies' failure to warn about the increased risks of breast cancer associated with HRT drugs.

More and more lawsuits being filed

It is estimated that Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer of the Prempro and Premarin, and the Upjohn Company (now Pfizer and the manufacturer of Provera) face thousands of lawsuits from women alleging that these drugs caused their breast cancer.

Prempro, which received FDA approval in 1994, has been at the center of the HRT controversy as it has been prescribed to millions of women. Apart from breast cancer, the drug has been linked to various side effects including heart attacks and strokes.

Following a study conducted by the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) showing these links, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration required Wyeth to change Prempro's labeling to include information from the WHI study – specifically that the drug may increase the risk of myocardial infarctions (heart attacks), strokes, invasive breast cancer, pulmonary embolisms (blood clots), and deep vein thrombosis (deep vein blood clots) in postmenopausal women who take the drug for more than 5 years.

Only 5% of victims have filed cases thus far

Only five percent of potential victims have filed cases over HRT injuries thus far, according to Bryan Aylstock, a Florida attorney whose firm protects the rights of consumers who are seriously injured due to defective drugs such as Prempro. Aylstock says that the potential numbers of victims are staggering. In fact, he says that number exceeds 100,000. He explained that, "The number of filed cases is in the order of 5,000 at this point. So, there's a large population of people out there who still probably don't know that their use of this combination hormone replacement therapy could have caused their breast cancer."

If you or a loved one has been injured due to the use of Prempro or any other HRT drug, contact an attorney to discuss your situation. The consultation is free, without obligation and strictly confidential. To contact a qualified attorney whose practice focuses in this area of the law, please click here.