Injuries From Hormone Replacement Therapy
Menopause is the time in a woman's life when her period stops. It is a normal part of aging. During menopause, the levels of female hormones can fluctuate. This can cause symptoms such as hot flashes which can vary from slight to severe. Many women have taken hormone replacement therapy to relieve these symptoms.
Hormone therapy was once considered the solution to many menopausal symptoms. Physicians believed that hormone therapy could ward off heart disease, osteoporosis, and cancer, while improving women’s quality of life.
Beginning in July 2002, however, findings emerged from clinical trials that showed this was not so. In fact, long-term use of Prempro, which is marketed by Wyeth (which was purchased by Pfizer in 2009), leads to increased risks of breast cancer, heart disease and stroke. This study, called the Woman’s Health Initiative (WHI), showed doctors that virtually everything that they thought they knew about the benefits and risks of Prempro was wrong. The study concluded that the RISKS of Prempro outweighed its benefits, and urged woman in the study to stop taking Prempro immediately. Many other studies followed finding similar results. As a result of prolonged use of Prempro, many women have developed breast cancer.
Brown & Szaller has filed over 100 lawsuits on behalf of women in Ohio who were injured as a result of hormone replacement therapy. Jim Szaller was appointed to the Hormone Therapy Governing Committee in the Multi-District Litigation pending in the Federal District Court in Little Rock Arkansas, where all cases pending in Federal courts throughout the country were consolidated for pretrial purposes. Mr. Szaller has reviewed approximately 2 Million Wyeth documents and has taken many weeks of depositions of Wyeth employees in connection with these cases. Mr. Szaller was present on the trial team of the first trial on this matter in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where a jury awarded over a Million Dollars after a four week trial.
Through his diligent work on these cases, Mr. Szaller discovered and, after receiving Court permission, publicized Wyeth's use of ghost writers on articles in the medical literature supposedly authored by responsible physicians extolling the use of Prempro. As a result of the publication of Wyeth's use of ghost writers, Mr. Szaller was asked to meet with U.S. Senator Grassley and subsequently, the U.S. Senate has opened hearing into Wyeth's practices.
READ THE NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLES ON GHOST WRITING
