Jury clears Pfizer in Prempro case

A Philadelphia jury has determined that Pfizer's (NYSE: PFE) menopause drug Prempro didn't cause breast cancer in two women. The plaintiffs in the case had been seeking at least $100,000 in damages.

The women were among roughly 9,900 who have filed suits against Wyeth, the Wall Street Journal reports. The plaintiffs maintain Prempro and the related Premarin have caused them harm, and that Wyeth failed to properly warn about the risks. Pfizer inherited the litigation when it acquired Wyeth last year.

Pfizer expressed sympathy for the plaintiffs, but emphasized "the vast majority of women who take hormone therapy do not get breast cancer," Bloomberg notes.

Pfizer and Wyeth haven't always been on the winning end in Prempro cases. Back in February, a Philadelphia jury ordered Wyeth to pay $6 million in punitive damages to an Alabama woman who developed breast cancer after taking the company's menopause drugs, bringing the total award in the case to $9.45 million.

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