La salud de la mujer / Woman's HealthCondena a un laboratorio por un tratamiento hormonal que produce cáncer de mama
Un juzgado de Nevada (EEUU) ha condenado al laboratorio lider en tratamientos hormonales de la menopausia a pagar a Arlene Rowatt, un abuela de 8, más de 42 millones de dólares por las lesiones causadas y 35 millones como compensación de las lesiones.
La paciente tomó tratamiento hormonal durante casi 8 años para aliviar los síntomas de la menopausia. Hace 7 años la paciente sufrió un cáncer de mama y se quejó de que la causa podría ser el tratamiento que recibió. Los abogados de la mujer aportaron documentos indicando que le laboratorio Wyeth (fabricante del tratamiento hormonal) sabía que su p`roducto podría causar cáncer de mama, a pesar de lo cual siguieron recomendando a los médicos que se prescribiese a mujeres menopáusicas.
El laboratorio ha dicho que el envase contiene información indicando el riesgo, pero el juez a considerado que esa información no es suficiente.
El laboratorio ya tiene 5.300 demandas legales pendientes de resolución en los tribunales. Esto es el principio.
Aqui va un poco de información de primera mano (Via Bloomberg)
Oct. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Wyeth must pay $134.1 million, including $99 million in punitive damages, over its mishandling of menopause drugs that helped cause three Nevada women's cancers, a jury ruled.
The panel ruled Oct. 12 that the company owed the women $35.1 million in compensatory damages. Jurors in state court in Reno concluded today that Wyeth, the largest maker of hormone- replacement medicines, should also pay Arlene Rowatt, Jeraldine Scofield and Pamela Forrester punitive damages for concealing the breast-cancer risks of its Prempro and Premarin drugs.
``We got the word out that a lot of women have been injured by this type of behavior by this company,'' Rowatt said after the verdict. She said she was ``ecstatic'' with the award. Lawyers for Wyeth, the largest maker of hormone-replacement therapies, said the company will appeal the verdict.
The three women's suits, which were combined for trial, are among about 5,300 against Madison, New Jersey-based Wyeth over its menopause drugs. As many as 6 million women took the pills to treat menopause symptoms such as hot flashes and mood swings before a 2002 study highlighted the drugs' links to cancer.
Annual sales of Wyeth's hormone-replacement drugs exceeded $2 billion before the 2002 Women's Health Initiative study, sponsored by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, suggested women using the medicines had a 24 percent higher risk of breast cancer. The drugs, which are still on the market, generated more than $1 billion in sales in 2006.Ignored Risks
Lawyers for Rowatt, Scofield and Forrester argued in the Reno case that Wyeth officials ignored Prempro's health risks and failed to properly warn doctors and consumers about the drug's cancer link to boost profits.
Wyeth's lawyers insisted the company conducted extensive safety tests on the drugs and warned of the risks through prescription labels and information sheets. The Reno verdict is the company's fourth trial loss in suits over the drugs.
``The verdict is an extreme aberration,'' said Heidi Hubbard, an attorney for Wyeth. ``It is inconsistent with the end result of all other hormone-therapy cases tried to date, and is inconsistent with the evidence. We are confident the Nevada Supreme Court will give the flawed verdict careful scrutiny.''
Jurors considered ordering Wyeth to pay more than $1 billion in punitive damages before settling on the lower number, said Emery Pierce, 22, a supervisor for United Parcel Service who served on the panel.
Pierce said jurors were upset that Wyeth used misleading information on its labels for the Premarin and Prempo menopause drugs.`Care Enough'
``There's no way they provided an adequate warning,'' the Reno resident said. ``They didn't seem to care enough that breast cancer kills people.''
Having a jury find Wyeth's conduct warrants a punitive- damage award should be a concern for the company, said Michael Kelly, a Wilmington, Delaware-based lawyer who represents drugmakers in product-liability cases.
``The punitive award shows that the jury found there was a conscious indifference to patient safety,'' Kelly said. ``That's not the kind of reputation a pharmaceutical company wants to have.''
The Reno verdict was the fourth loss for Wyeth since lawsuits over the menopause drugs began going to trial in August 2006. It's the largest verdict so far in the hormone-replacement therapy cases and the eighth-largest verdict of any kind in the U.S. this year, according to Bloomberg data.
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