Premarin Lawsuit

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Lynn Smith
Lynn Smith Member Posts: 1,264 Member
in Breast Cancer #1
I was in another room so didn't get the location or anything else.But on our news a couple days ago a lady was suing the company that makes Premarin for causing her breast cancer.As women go through the change they are prescribed this as we all know.I am sure many on here have taken it or another pill for problems they had going through menopause. With a family history and I had benign tumors since I was 21 my breast surgeon said NEVER take hormones.And he had a serious discussion with my Gynecologist about that.

Now someone suing the company???? With the known facts and with what doctors probably tell people I'm not sure where this will go.I didn't take those pills or any other pill for menopause and I still was diagnosed with bc.

I wish I could give the state but got the tail end of the news.But I know what I heard just don't know where. I wonder where in the world she got her attorney??? Most won't take cases like this UNLESS you have the money up front to pay them.This will take years and years to settle.What a hassle it will be and the stress of it all.

Did anyone else hear this on their news?? Not sure if it is all around the US news or in our area.I know didn't read it in our local papers.

Lynn Smith

Comments

  • MAJW
    MAJW Member Posts: 2,510 Member
    #2
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    Not surprised...
    Anyone can sue for anything...and where did she get her attorney? Attorneys advertise, will take most any cases...some have no fees unless you win the case...even though Premarin, which by the way is ONLY taken by women who have had a hysterectomy does carry risk warnings, PREMPRO is for those who have not had one....so does everything else...look at the lawsuits against tobacco companies....and cases won....tobacco has had warnings for years and years.... EVERYTHING has some type of warnings....we know that radiation can cause cancer...but millions have had it for cancer treatment....look at the warnings on a bottle of aspirin....

    I took Premarin yet my bc is TN...not estrogen receptive....so Premarin did not cause my bc.....my first thought.....

    Keep us posted if you hear more....haven't heard anything about this....
  • camul
    camul Member Posts: 2,537
    #3
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    Actually this has been
    Actually this has been ongoing. The problem was that Pfizer Pharmaceuticals knew of the link between these drugs and breast cancer and still continued to push them. My bc is from HRT, or that is the belief. I questioned the safety of all of HRT and was assured at a Menopause clinic that it was safe. When I was first diagnosed in 2002, the original MO said I did not need chemo. The MO that I chose, and still see, said at the time that I did need chemo because of the HRT. I had no family history, but at the time of my hysterectomy, I was on Premarin, Estrace, and Estrogen shots.

    There were 13 class action suits against Pfizer. In November, Pfizer was able to move up on the docket and the 7th of the 13 lawsuits was found not guilty. This was less than 2 hours before a study/report was released by UCLA that proved that the Pharmaceutical company knew the risks and failed to release the info and pushed the meds in spite of this. In November on the day that the study was released and Pfizer got away with this, it was stated in one editorial that I read, Pfizer made billions off this drug and the kick backs to some of the women's clinics and gynecologists was in the millions.

    If you google this, you will find thousands and thousands of hits.

    One of the things that really stuck out was that the study shows that of those with bc caused by HRT, of those that have a recurrence or mets, it is almost always deadly because the HRT makes the cancer more resistant to treatment.

    The sad part for me is that their profits were worth more than my life.

    ~Carol
  • Lynn Smith
    Lynn Smith Member Posts: 1,264 Member
    #4
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    camul said:

    Actually this has been
    Actually this has been ongoing. The problem was that Pfizer Pharmaceuticals knew of the link between these drugs and breast cancer and still continued to push them. My bc is from HRT, or that is the belief. I questioned the safety of all of HRT and was assured at a Menopause clinic that it was safe. When I was first diagnosed in 2002, the original MO said I did not need chemo. The MO that I chose, and still see, said at the time that I did need chemo because of the HRT. I had no family history, but at the time of my hysterectomy, I was on Premarin, Estrace, and Estrogen shots.

    There were 13 class action suits against Pfizer. In November, Pfizer was able to move up on the docket and the 7th of the 13 lawsuits was found not guilty. This was less than 2 hours before a study/report was released by UCLA that proved that the Pharmaceutical company knew the risks and failed to release the info and pushed the meds in spite of this. In November on the day that the study was released and Pfizer got away with this, it was stated in one editorial that I read, Pfizer made billions off this drug and the kick backs to some of the women's clinics and gynecologists was in the millions.

    If you google this, you will find thousands and thousands of hits.

    One of the things that really stuck out was that the study shows that of those with bc caused by HRT, of those that have a recurrence or mets, it is almost always deadly because the HRT makes the cancer more resistant to treatment.

    The sad part for me is that their profits were worth more than my life.

    ~Carol

    I was told to take it
    My gynecologist prescribed it but I didn't take it. I've always wondered if doctors get some kickback.

    If I would have taken it I am SURE I would have been dx with bc much much sooner.This is heartbreaking but those suits can go on for many many years.I've had some situations that warranted suits but forget it.To much of a hassle.

    Carol.Yes that is the sad part.Money is worth more to them than life.

    I might go online and see if I can bring it up on the TV station site.Should be something since it was just 2 days ago.Will do a search. I am interested if it is someone around my area or out of state.

    My breast surgeon always stood up for me and I'm sure all of his patients.Someone told me that is not usally what they do but I know doctors would do what is right for their patients. I followed up with my bc surgeon for over 30 years. He let NOTHING slide by.


    Lynn Smith
  • cahjah75
    cahjah75 Member Posts: 2,631
    #5
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    Lynn
    some people just like to sue! I tried Premarin or Prempro for a very short time. Didn't like se. In 2001, one year postmenopause, I couldn't stand the hot flashes and knowing that I had 2 sisters with bc I still asked my gyn for help. He put me on very low dose FEM HRT. I stopped taking it about a year before I was dx. The way I look at it I knew my chance of escaping bc was slim anyways. I'm the 5th in my family. As far as I'm concerned this person suing is no different than the person who sued McD about the hot coffee spilling in her lap.
    Char
  • laughs_a_lot
    laughs_a_lot Member Posts: 1,368 Member
    #6
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    lawsuit
    Well IMHO if the patient did not have full knowlege of the risk they were taking by using the drug, then a lawsuit could be warranted. This said however, the aggrivation of it all could make one's cancer progress even further. I have been doing research on TNBC and have found that stress shortens something on the genes called a tellomere. A tellomere is a protective factor against cancer. I had lived a high stress life (not by choice) for many years. Considering this I should have been dead already. I think the reason it took me so long to get bc is because I have a positive attitude. A positive attitude may have mitigated some of the shortening of the tellomeres. On the stress and telomere study, I am not sure that it is the case for just TNBC, it may be the case for all cancers or all breast cancers. I just know I read about the study on a site dedicated to TNBC.

    The way I see it is this. Even if I had done HRT without knowing the risks, I still would probably not bother to sue. My reasoning is this, even though I should have been fully informed of the risks, the pharmaceutical companines have so much money that they can get the best lawyers and drag it out for years. The stress of a lawsiut would just give cancer an upper hand for the possibility of reccurrence. My higher power will hold those guilty of wrongdoing accountable for what they do to the masses.
  • camul
    camul Member Posts: 2,537
    #7
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    laughs_a_lot said:

    lawsuit
    Well IMHO if the patient did not have full knowlege of the risk they were taking by using the drug, then a lawsuit could be warranted. This said however, the aggrivation of it all could make one's cancer progress even further. I have been doing research on TNBC and have found that stress shortens something on the genes called a tellomere. A tellomere is a protective factor against cancer. I had lived a high stress life (not by choice) for many years. Considering this I should have been dead already. I think the reason it took me so long to get bc is because I have a positive attitude. A positive attitude may have mitigated some of the shortening of the tellomeres. On the stress and telomere study, I am not sure that it is the case for just TNBC, it may be the case for all cancers or all breast cancers. I just know I read about the study on a site dedicated to TNBC.

    The way I see it is this. Even if I had done HRT without knowing the risks, I still would probably not bother to sue. My reasoning is this, even though I should have been fully informed of the risks, the pharmaceutical companines have so much money that they can get the best lawyers and drag it out for years. The stress of a lawsiut would just give cancer an upper hand for the possibility of reccurrence. My higher power will hold those guilty of wrongdoing accountable for what they do to the masses.

    I feel the same way about
    I feel the same way about suing, but there is a basis for a lawsuit. I would love to see an outcome where the Pharmaceutical would have to give the money to research to do something about it.
    I know that I wouldn't waste the time I have left on a lawsuit. But I really do believe that they have to be held accountable.
  • Lynn Smith
    Lynn Smith Member Posts: 1,264 Member
    #8
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    camul said:

    I feel the same way about
    I feel the same way about suing, but there is a basis for a lawsuit. I would love to see an outcome where the Pharmaceutical would have to give the money to research to do something about it.
    I know that I wouldn't waste the time I have left on a lawsuit. But I really do believe that they have to be held accountable.

    Lawsuits
    Are a pain and def not worth the hassle.Over 30 years ago I was in a car wreck. Everything was settled out of court and I was handed a check for $10,000. Years later our lives were put in jeopardy when a company did some shoddy work and another company waited to come and fix that problem. The first company I tracked down and found them after they moved.Then filed suit against both companies.They caused a house fire and our house exploded.We just got out.With the suit the lawyers start their harrassing.In depositions.Would you believe they wanted to know if we were happily married?? What does that have to do with a lawsuit and they left us in a house full of gas ready to explode. The attornies do nothing but asked stupid questions and your own attorney isn't much better. Total mockeries is all I have to say about lawsuits.In the end we got $10,000 for a house that burnt,pets killed,nightmares and post trauma. That was the same we got when I had a whip lash 10 years or more before this other incident.

    FORGET LAWSUITS.Lawyers are in it together. I saw that.This lady who thinks she is getting somewhere is going to be surprised.The suits go on for many many years.Then in the end you might get a settlement but the doctor has no money after paying for his attorney fees.It happened not far from where I live.A ladies surgery was botched.Very Bad.She fought in the courts for almost 5 years.She won her suit.Then it was said she will probably never collect since the doctor was no longer in practice(retired)

    Health is much more important than principle.I want now to be stress free.I even stay away from people who are rude, nasty and obnoxious.My husband and I had problems with a asst manager at a store. She Stressed me to know end. I went to the district office for them to see the tape and how we were treated after she was asked to take care of a problem in the store(to remove a baby chick for being pecked to death). She went nuts.I didn't need her bull(slinging things).I will not put up with people like I did before.

    You ladies are right.Forget the lawsuits and go on with life.We have to concentrate on our bc and ourselves.Not a bunch of bull that will NEVER be solved.These companies can drag it on forever.They have the money.AND they will do just that.Maybe someday they will be held accountable but now they are making money.

    Lynn Smith
  • chenheart
    chenheart Member Posts: 5,159
    #9
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    My mom took Premarin back in
    My mom took Premarin back in the 60's for menopause...even then, when I found out that its name is a contraction for Pregnant Mares Urine, I thought it couldn't possibly be good for humans! So nothing surprises me anymore.

    Hugs,
    Chen♥
  • ender
    ender Member Posts: 167
    #10
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    camul said:

    Actually this has been
    Actually this has been ongoing. The problem was that Pfizer Pharmaceuticals knew of the link between these drugs and breast cancer and still continued to push them. My bc is from HRT, or that is the belief. I questioned the safety of all of HRT and was assured at a Menopause clinic that it was safe. When I was first diagnosed in 2002, the original MO said I did not need chemo. The MO that I chose, and still see, said at the time that I did need chemo because of the HRT. I had no family history, but at the time of my hysterectomy, I was on Premarin, Estrace, and Estrogen shots.

    There were 13 class action suits against Pfizer. In November, Pfizer was able to move up on the docket and the 7th of the 13 lawsuits was found not guilty. This was less than 2 hours before a study/report was released by UCLA that proved that the Pharmaceutical company knew the risks and failed to release the info and pushed the meds in spite of this. In November on the day that the study was released and Pfizer got away with this, it was stated in one editorial that I read, Pfizer made billions off this drug and the kick backs to some of the women's clinics and gynecologists was in the millions.

    If you google this, you will find thousands and thousands of hits.

    One of the things that really stuck out was that the study shows that of those with bc caused by HRT, of those that have a recurrence or mets, it is almost always deadly because the HRT makes the cancer more resistant to treatment.

    The sad part for me is that their profits were worth more than my life.

    ~Carol

    Carol, I am so sorry to hear
    Carol, I am so sorry to hear a drug know to cause BC was pushed upon you! As many have stated, going through a lawsuit is a great pain. Its an individual choice if its worth it. But Im exploding in anger to hear this. Im new here, and new to BC, but I am already a believer that women should not mess with their hormones unless to treat an actual serious disease (like BC). You were given a drug to treat side effects of menopause? But menopause is normal, something all women go through. I was given estrogen based birth control pills at age 17(!), to "treat" my irregular periods. I was not suffering in any way, and as I am older and have done research myself, I have concluded that my puberty was just "slow". So we were both given hormones to "treat" things that were not an illness. It makes me angry. If doctors and drug companies in good faith give patients drugs to cure them of some illness, and it later turns out that it had bad effects, that is one thing. But what you are describing is horrific.

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