Can Hormone Replacement Therapy cause cancer?

Prempro / Premarin  |  Prempro FAQs

Prempro, a hormone replacement drug, is prescribed for menopausal symptoms including mood swings, hot flashes, night sweats, osteoporosis and vaginal dryness. An estimated 6 million women nationwide take the drug. But recent Prempro verdicts pose significant legal setbacks for the drug’s maker, pharmaceutical giant Wyeth, Inc., raising serious questions about the future of the blockbuster medication.

• In March, 2008, a Little Rock jury determined that Prempro, along with medications Premarin and Provera, helped to cause breast cancer in an Arkansas woman. Wyeth was ordered to pay more than $19 million in compensatory and punitive damages as a result.

• A Nevada court ruled against Wyeth in February for similar reasons, awarding $58 million in damages to three women for breast cancer caused by the pharmaceutical company's hormone replacement therapy (HRT) medications. In total, more than 5,300 lawsuits have been filed against Wyeth involving HRT drugs.

As early as July 2002, the National Institute of Health (NIH) halted a major clinical study that suggested Prempro posed very serious health risks to otherwise healthy women after only one year of taking the medication. The study of 16,000 women showed that Prempro patients had an increased chance of suffering heart attack, breast cancer, blood clots and stroke.

Even more disturbing are results from the follow-up study released by the NIH just this month (March 2008) which indicated that women who stopped HRT estrogen-progestin combination therapy (Prempro combines both hormones) still had a 27 percent higher risk for breast cancer six years after they stopped the medication than women who didn't take any hormones. In addition to breast cancer, these women had a 24 percent higher risk for developing any type of cancer.

Despite these alarming statistics, Wyeth has not recalled Prempro, choosing instead to issue updated guidelines and reduce dosage recommendations.

If you or someone you loved has suffered from illness or heart attack after taking HRT medication, please contact Brown & Crouppen by calling 1-866-991-4700. Our attorneys know how to handle claims involving pharmaceutical liability and negligence – and we can help.

While you should always consult your physician before discontinuing any medication, if you have been treated with estrogen or a combination of estrogen/progestin hormone replacement therapy, you should contact your doctor immediately to discuss whether HRT is the best course of treatment.

If you have suffered harmful effects from Prempro, you may be entitled to file a legal claim. Brown & Crouppen has represented many victims of defective drugs, and as our client, you will be backed by a team of legal professionals, medical experts and investigators who are committed to ensuring that your rights are protected. We believe drug companies have a responsibility to the public; when they fail in that duty, they must be held accountable.

Call us Toll Free at 1-866-991-4700 for your free legal consultation or save time with our online Contact Form.

Brown & Crouppen can help you make informed decisions about your legal rights. Call us Toll Free at 1-866-991-4700 for your free legal consultation or save time with our online Contact Form.

For additional HRT / Prempro information, click here.

Lawyer's Story...

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My name is Ron Brown, along with my partner Terry Crouppen we founded Brown and Crouppen almost 20 years ago. Today, we are proud to say that we are one of mid-America’s largest personal injury law firms. For some time now we have concentrated a lot of our time and resources in the area of dangerous drug litigation. We have partnered with some of the country’s best drug litigation specialists to create a legal team we feel is second to none. Our team has successfully handled cases involving the prescription drugs Rezulin, Fen-Phen and Lotronex.     CONTINUE

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It’s really terrible to read about a prescription drug being recalled because of dangerous side effects, when you’re one of the people taking it. That’s what happened to me a few years ago. I suffer from a chronic disease and my doctor prescribed a drug to help me manage it better. After being on the drug for a while I began to feel weak and reported it to my doctor. I can’t say enough good things about him, he saved my life. He realized that my problems were being caused not by my disease but by the prescription drug that was supposed to be helping me.    CONTINUE

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Call Brown & Crouppen at Toll-Free: 866-991-4700 for your free
legal consultation or save time with our online Contact Form.

Toll-Free: 866-991-4700