Pfizer Takes it on the Chin

[Guest guest]

200,000 women got breast cancer as a result of their drug Prempro and it

is still on the market... This is why alternative medicine rules.

 

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/10/27/pfizer-in-court-again-this-time-for-wyeth\

s-menopause-treatment/?icid=main

 

Pfizer Inc. (PFE <http://finance.aol.com/quotes/pfizer-inc/pfe/nys>)

sure is no stranger to finding itself in court. The pharmaceutical giant

is constantly defending its practices

<http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/08/12/pfizers-neurontin-epilepsy-meds-have-nev\

er-been-this-sexy/>

and drugs, often ending up paying millions if not billions in damages --

even admitting to felony criminal charges

<http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/09/02/pfizer-settles-off-label-uses-promotion-\

and-kickback-charges-for/>.

Pfizer has also inherited lawsuits with some of the companies it has

purchased. It's recent $68 billion mega acquisition of Wyeth is no

different.

 

On Monday, a Philadelphia jury, which had earlier found a link between a

woman's breast cancer and the hormone-replacement drug she was taking,

also found that Wyeth hid and ignored evidence of the drug's potential

cancer risk. The jury awarded Connie Barton an undisclosed amount of

punitive-damages

<http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/20091027_Judge_seals_damage_award_again\

st_Wyeth.html>.

 

 

Barton's case is one of 9,000 Prempro lawsuits across the country. About

1,500 are pending in Philadelphia alone, opening up the door to more

potential liabilities for Pfizer, which just recently was ordered to pay

a record $2.3 billion fine for illegally marketing painkiller Bextra,

which is now off the market.

 

The drug, Prempro, from Pfizer's unit Wyeth, is a combination of

hormones estrogen-progestin (Premarin and Provera) and is taken as a

menopause treatment.

 

Barton took Prempro for five years before she was diagnosed with

invasive breast cancer in 2002. Wyeth's lawyer George McDavid had argued

that Barton had breast cancer before she began taking Prempro. The jury

was not convinced and found that Prempro caused Barton's breast cancer.

She was awarded $3.75 million in compensatory damages in September. The

punitive award was sealed pending another verdict in a second Prempro

case in the same courthouse.

 

Once again, this case highlights the reasons for the public's

longstanding distrust and mistrust of pharmaceutical companies. The AP

reports

<http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iU-sedtp1SgsejCSkg5JVlCRS8NwD\

9BJ298O0>

that Esther Berezofsky, one of Barton's lawyers said, " They knew back in

the 1970s that these drugs had the potential to cause breast cancer, so

they didn't have the studies done. " Wyeth, the lawyer added,

consistently downplayed bad results.

 

Only on Monday, Booster Shots reported that a new study by French

researchers examined how clinical trials are being reported

<http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2009/10/clinical-trials-adverse-s\

ide-effects.html>

in medical journals. They found that even though " The reporting of harm

is as important as the reporting of efficacy [...] harm is frequently

insufficiently reported. " Often hard data is not being provided in the

publications, and when it is, it is often distorted.

 

It is interesting that in the editorial to this study, Dr. John

Ioannidis of the University of Ioannina School of Medicine in Greece,

attributed some of the under-reporting to companies intent on " silencing

the evidence. " He singled out Merck's (MRK

<http://finance.aol.com/quotes/merck-and-co-inc/mrk/nys>) Vioxx -- the

painkiller that doubled the risk of heart attack and stroke, and

Pfizer's Neurontin -- an epilepsy drug that the FDA linked to an 80

percent increase in suicidal thoughts and behavior. " In these cases, "

Dr. Ioannidis wrote, " marketing needs prevail over scientific accuracy

and clinical prudence. "

 

During its court case, Wyeth, told jurors that women are now fully

informed of the risks and benefits of Prempro. Further, in arguing

against the punitive damages, a lawyer, on behalf of Wyeth, said the

drug maker changed its practices and policies such as letting its

consultants ghostwrite medical journal articles, promoting off-label

drug use and giving gifts to doctors. Attempts to reach the company were

not immediately answered.

 

Sales of the drug have plummeted since 2002 when a large federal health

study, the Women's Health Initiative, linked the therapy to breast

cancer and cardiovascular risks. The study was stopped as a result.

Another study this year also showed that lung cancer seems more likely

to prove fatal in women who are taking the combination drug.

 

Berezofsky claims that 200,000 women who got breast cancer could have

avoided it had they not taken Prempro. However, Prempro and the

combination hormones remain on the market. More than six million women

<http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103 & sid=ajS4lMTXVEnY> have

taken hormone-replacement medicines to treat menopause symptoms such as

hot flashes, night sweats, and mood swings.

 

So far, Wyeth has lost five of eight trials regarding this matter since

2006. All cases are on appeal. In cases in Arkansas and Nevada, some

damages were set aside or reduced.