Pfizer Faces Menopause-Drug Punitive Award

January 14, 2010 | 2 Comments

Posted by: Kathleen Daniel

Imagine my surprise. I was looking for an update on pending lawsuits against Merck in the trial against Fosamax for causing jaw necrosis in women, and I find the safety of Provera, marketed for relief of menopausal symptoms, called into serious question vis a vis its role in breast cancer.

“A Pfizer Inc. unit must face a $1.5 million damage award over one of its menopause drugs… A Philadelphia trial judge erred in throwing out the jury verdict against Pfizer’s Pharmacia & Upjohn unit, the Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled today. The appellate court reinstated the damage award to Merle Simon, who contends Upjohn’s hormone-replacement drug Provera helped cause her breast cancer. “This ruling is a big win for plaintiffs because it potentially puts more than 1,000 cases over menopause drugs back on the trial docket …” The panel noted it was “entirely unreasonable” to assume women knew the links between hormone-replacement drugs and breast cancer until the 2002 Women’s Health Initiative study, sponsored by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, made them clear. The study found that women using menopause medicines had a higher risk of breast cancer.”

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Comments

2 Comments so far

  1. Gregory Anne Cox on February 14, 2010 11:35 am

    Geez, when will it end? The irresponsible drug pushing I mean. I’m so happy to see this and thank you for keeping us aware of these important legal battles. We all have to do as much as we can to shine the light on the dangers of so many of these medications pushed at women via fear mongering about what will happen if we don’t take them, or when we feel vulnerable because of pain or a “bad” result from a diagnostic tool.

    Hi there – It will end when women get informed, and angry and educated enough to take care of ourselves with the natural “alternatives” out there, and the industries will implode from lack of interest. As an acupuncturist, herbalist and lover of whole foods it still baffles me how natural healing approaches got to be in the category of “other”, but that’s just me! Thanks for commenting! Kathleen

  2. Allison Hill on July 26, 2010 9:16 am

    you can also reduce the sypmtoms of menopause by having hormone replacement therapy.:*,

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