The New York Times on Saturday examined how several "widely used" medications have become the focus of the "next wave" of lawsuits filed by patients over allegations that pharmaceutical companies concealed severe side effects or improperly marketed the treatments. The medications, which have combined annual sales of $7 billion, include the antipsychotic Seroquel, manufactured by AstraZeneca; the birth control patch Ortho-Evra, manufactured by Johnson & Johnson; the hormone replacement therapy Prempro, manufactured by Wyeth; and the osteoporosis treatment Fosamax, manufactured by Merck. According to clinical trial data submitted to FDA, Fosamax has a link with severe jaw decay; Seroquel has links with weight gain and increased risk for diabetes; Ortho-Evra has a link with blood clots, which can cause strokes; and Prempro has a link with increased risk for breast cancer. In "each case, plaintiffs' lawyers say drug makers hid early indications of the side effects and improperly marketed their medicines," the Times reports. The pharmaceutical companies involved deny any wrongdoing. Peter Bicks, a defense attorney at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe said, "This really is like cattle moving around a pasture, grazing on the greenest parts of the grass. The greenest part of the pasture now appears to be, in the post-Vioxx era, drugs." However, Paul Pennock, an attorney for Weitz & Luxenberg, said, "These companies just do it again and again and again. They try to create much larger markets for these drugs than is warranted, particularly given what they know about the risks" (Berenson, New York Times, 4/22).

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View drug information on Fosamax; Prempro; Seroquel.