Wyeth Hit With Class Action Alleging Damage From Drug

Wyeth Inc. was slapped with a class-action lawsuit Thursday following a study released this week that identified increased health risks to women from the company’s Prempro hormone replacement therapy.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of women who allege that the hormone replacement has damaged them, said the law firm Schiffrin & Barroway. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, seeks the establishment of a medical monitoring fund for all women who have taken Prempro, plus refunds for all Prempro users and compensation for “all victims for personal injuries and death.”

In the suit, plaintiff June Bloch contends that Wyeth officials knew Prempro caused “serious side effects” in some users. “Nevertheless, they continued to market the product by providing false and misleading information with regard to its safety,” the suit said.

Bloch, who has not been diagnosed with breast cancer or other Prempro-linked illness, is asking a judge to order Wyeth to pay for her medical checkups after the disclosures about the drug.

Representatives of Schiffrin & Barroway were unavailable Thursday to give details about the size of the class or who might qualify.

Hormone replacement therapy is used by millions of post-menopausal women to treat symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings and vaginal dryness.

Wyeth spokesman Douglas Petkus said the company had not received documentation on the lawsuit, adding that “we don’t think that there is any legal or factual basis for any claims against Wyeth and Prempro, or any related to the study.”

The National Institutes of Health study, which was halted because of concerns about health risks to the more than 16,000 female participants, found that healthy women who take Prempro in the long term faced a slight but significant increase in risk for breast cancer, heart disease, blood clots and strokes.

The suit is more bad news for Wyeth, which reserved $13.2 billion to settle lawsuits by dieters who claimed its diet drug fen-phen damaged heart valves. The company changed its name from American Home Products Corp. this year.

Prempro is one of Wyeth’s bestsellers, with sales of more than $2 billion last year.

Wyeth should brace itself for more suits by Prempro users seeking to force the company to pay for cancer and stroke screening, said Stephen Sheller, a Philadelphia-based plaintiffs attorney who represented dieters in fen-phen lawsuits.

“You are going to have a bunch of cases seeking medical monitoring and claiming the company unjustly enriched itself by selling this drug,” said Sheller, who is not involved in Bloch’s suit.

Wyeth shares rose 65 cents to close at $36.40 on the New York Stock Exchange. The shares have fallen 39% since the disclosure this week about Prempro’s potential health risks.

Bloomberg News was used in compiling this report.