Pfizer unit accused of hiding Prempro's health risks

Pfizer's Wyeth failed to properly warn doctors and consumers that its Prempro menopause drug could cause breast cancer, a lawyer for an Arkansas woman who developed the disease told jurors. Company officials knew women like Margaret Wilson were at risk for the disease by taking the hormone-replacement drug and kept quiet to pump up sales, Chris Kirchmer told a federal court jury in Little Rock, Arkansas. U.S. District Judge William Wilson, who is presiding over the case, is overseeing more than 8,000 cases over the drugs that have been consolidated in his court for pre-trial information exchanges and some early trials. Wyeth officials have faced repeated criticism over the marketing of their menopause drugs, including allegations that the company paid for ghostwritten articles in medical journals that overstated the effectiveness of the medicines. Article