Pills and Potions: Paying for a Hormone's Cancer Risk

When enough people are upset by the negative results of taking a certain drug, court action can result.

Three women in Nevada have succeeded in their claim that taking Premarin hormone replacement drugs manufactured by the drug giant Wyeth resulted in breast cancer. The company was required to pay a total of $134.5 million, and each of the three women received $7.5 million as their share.

It seems that Wyeth, one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world, is being lambasted from all corners and not just for its Premarin HRT (hormone replacement therapy) medications. There's more...

The company is still smarting from disaster with FenPhen, a prescription drug for weight loss that has been linked to valvular heart disease and resulting death from patients taking the drug.
Effexor, a popular prescription-only antidepressant, has side effects that can result in even more depression, especially among young users.
A contraceptive implant, Norplant, is still available in other countries but has been banned in the US because of severe side effects leading to death.

The most interesting run-in with the law by Wyeth occurred in 2001 when the company, then known as American Home Products, handed over $2.5 million to the US government on charges that that it had been dealing with drug traffickers in the country of Colombia.

Sales for Premarin and Effexor top one billion dollars per year, according to the company. Among well-known drugs and other health-related products from Weyeth are the following: