Illinois Prempro Lawsuits Link HRT to Cancer Risk
Juries Assesses $113 Million Against Pfizer in Two Illinois Prempro® Trials
December 9, 2009 — In two recent Illinois Prempro® cases, the juries found in favor of two women suffering from breast cancer, assessing the responsible hormone replacement therapy manufacturer a total of $113 million.
Breast Cancer Survivor—Jury Rendered Verdict of $34.3 Million in Prempro® Case
On November 23, 2009, an Illinois jury assessed Pfizer $28 million in additional damages besides the compensatory damages of $6.3 million assessed on Friday, November 20, 2009, in the latest Philadelphia case involving Prempro®, a hormone–replacement therapy drug. Donna Kendall, a breast cancer survivor, took Prempro® for the last four years of her menopause hormone–replacement therapy. Prior to that, she took Pfizer’s Phamacia (Provera). She was on hormone–replacement drugs for 11 years, up until 2002 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The jury found that the hormone drug manufacturer failed to warn Ms. Kendall of the risks associated in taking hormone–replacement drugs including the increased risk of breast cancer. The assessed amount was split between Wyeth and Upjohn, both subsidiaries of Pfizer.
Kendall Verdict Unseals $75 Million Punitive Damages Assessed in Earlier Illinois Prempro® Trial
In another Illinois Prempro® case tried in September 2009, a jury assessed $75 million in Connie Barton’s case against Wyeth. The exact amount had been sealed until the conclusion of the Kendall trial to avoid influencing the Kendall jury. Ms. Barton took Prempro® for 5 years before her breast cancer diagnosis, also in 2002. The $75 million was in addition to the $3.75 million in compensatory damages assessed at the end of the September trial. The jury found a link between Barton’s breast cancer and the hormone–replacement drug, Prempro®.
Florida Prempro® Lawsuit Unseals Evidentiary Documents
In other developments related to the Prempro® trials across the country, the only HRT–related
suit being tried in Florida has resulted in the unsealing of over 300,000 Pfizer corporate documents.
Plaintiff’s attorneys in the case refused to agree to Wyeth’s confidentiality agreement citing
the state’s Sunshine in Litigation law, under which a court is prohibited from sealing documents
if they concern a “public hazard.
” Prior to the court hearing arguments, Pfizer, Wyeth’s
parent company, agreed to release the documents to avoid “lengthy court proceedings
” and
the possibility of Prempro® being labeled a “public hazard.
”
Prempro® Lawsuits Stem from Women’s Health Initiative Study
The cases are among a handful of Prempro® cases that have gone to trial since 2005. There are several thousand cases filed throughout the country. The cases came out of a Women’s Health Initiative study in 2002 that found women taking hormone–replacement therapy drugs had a higher risk of developing breast cancer, heart disease, blood clots and strokes. National Institutes of Health sponsored the study.
It is estimated that over 6 million women have taken drugs, primarily Premarin®, Provera® and Prempro®, to treat the symptoms of menopause:
- Hot flashes
- Night sweats
- Mood swings
Up until 1995 Premarin®, an estrogen–based hormone–replacement therapy drug manufactured by Wyeth, was combined with Provera®, progestin–based drug manufactured by Upjohn. In Prempro®, Wyeth combined the two therapies, estrogen and progestin, in one drug. Prior to the Women’s Health Initiative study, Wyeth sold over $2 billion worth of Prempro®. Upjohn Co. and Wyeth are divisions of Pfizer.
Pfizer acquired Wyeth on October 15, 2009, for $68 billion—inheriting Wyeth’s hundreds of
personal liability cases in the process. A spokesman for Pfizer, Chris Loder said, “We are disappointed
with the verdicts in these cases. The company believes that neither the awards of punitive damages nor
the liability verdicts were supported by the evidence or the law.
” They plan on appealing both
of the verdicts.
If you or a loved one has taken Prempro®, we are here to help you discuss your legal options. Please contact our attorneys for a free, confidential evaluation of your hormone–replacement therapy case.
