Hormone Replacement Therapy

For many years, women have taken Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) for the purpose of reducing the symptoms of menopause. While women were led to believe taking HRT drugs (such as Prempro, Premarin, Premphase or Provera) was safe and even decreased certain health risks, studies now show that HRT can cause breast cancer.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) established the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) in 1991 to address the most common causes of death, disability and impaired quality of life in postmenopausal women. In this 15 year, multi-million dollar research project and subsequent studies, it was learned that the taking of Hormone Replacement Therapy increased the risk of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, gall bladder cancer, stroke, heart disease, blood clots, scleroderma, lupus, asthma, and other disorders and diseases. Women who received the combination of estrogen and progestin in one of the most notable therapies, Prempro, had a 24 per cent higher risk of getting invasive breast cancer. Wyeth, which is one of the leading manufacturers of hormone replacement therapies with its brand Prempro has enjoyed stellar sales topping more than 1 billion dollars in 2006, down from 2 billion dollars before the announcement of the Women’s Health Initiative study.

In a recent study in the May 2007 issue of the Lancet, British researches report in the British Million Women Study that Hormone Replacement Therapy ingestion has produced an additional 1300 ovarian cancers with 1000 additional ovarian cancer-related deaths from the use of this ever increasingly dangerous chemical cocktail. Statistics show that 1 in 48 women are affected with ovarian cancer, which is difficult to diagnosis, and unless treated quite early, often fatal. It is believed that the estrogen component of the HRT may be the causative factor in the promotion of ovarian cancers.

Thousands of cases have been filed throughout the country with the states of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania taking the lead. The Ashkin law firm serves as the Court appointed State Liaison Counsel for the litigation pending before the Honorable Marin Shulman in the New York State Supreme Court, HRT Litigation.

HRT Resources & Links

http://www.fda.gov/womens/menopause/

http://www.4woman.gov/menopause

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/hearttruth/therapy/ (National Heart lung and Blood Institute)

http://www.nih.gov/PHTindex.htm (National Institutes of Health)

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