Courts » Jury to answer that question after thousands of women sue drugmakers.

Courts Jury to answer that question after thousands of women sue drugmakers.

More than eight years after alleging hormone therapy drugs caused and promoted her breast cancer, Toshiko Okuda is finally getting her day in court.

Okuda was among dozens of Utah women and thousands nationwide who filed federal civil lawsuits against Wyeth and other drug manufacturers after researchers halted a National Institutes of Health sponsored study in 2002 upon finding an increased risk of invasive breast cancer among those using hormone replacement drugs. Her lawsuit, along with 68 others filed in Utah, was initially transferred to the Eastern District of Arkansas; three were remanded back to Utahs district court in April 2010.

Okudas lawsuit is the only one of the three to proceed to trial; the other two cases were dismissed last year. U.S. District Court Judge David Nuffer is presiding over the jury trial, which is scheduled to end Sept. 7.

The jury, comprised of seven women and five men, is expected to hear from at least 30 witnesses some in person, others in taped video presentations or depositions read in court before the trial concludes. A majority of the witnesses are either current and former drug company employees or expert witnesses familiar with the latest research on breast cancer, hormone therapy and breast cancer risk. Okuda, her husband and daughter are also expected to testify.

Okudas lawsuit, like others in Utah and across the nation, was filed after the Womens Health Initiative study reported in 2002 it had found increased risks of various diseases among women who took Prempro for an average of 5.2 years. It specifically found increases in breast cancer, strokes, heart attacks, blood clots and cardiovascular disease.

A supplemental report issued in 2003 reiterated the breast cancer risk finding, which an editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association said offered "further compelling evidence against the use of combination estrogen plus progestin hormone therapy." A similar study in the United Kingdom released that year echoed the concern, reporting that post-menopausal women using combination hormone therapy were twice as likely to develop breast cancer as non-users.

In all about 10,000 cases have been filed against drug companies by women who allege the products caused or contributed to their breast cancers. In June, Bloomberg News reported that Pfizer, Wyeths parent company, had paid $896 million to resolve 6,000 lawsuits. It said Pfizer has set aside another $330 million to resolve 4,000 cases still pending.

Of the cases that have gone to trial, outcomes have been mixed. Bloomberg reported in May that the drug manufacturers have won 10 of 21 cases decided by juries since 2006, when the first legal proceedings began. In cases that went against the companies, monetary awards have been sizable, ranging from $1.5 million to more than $70 million.

Okuda sued the drug companies in May 2004, claiming their products caused and contributed to her disease. The companies "promoted hormone therapy as drugs of prevention as well as being safe and effective," her complaint states. "The reality is the exact opposite."

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Courts » Jury to answer that question after thousands of women sue drugmakers.