Premarin Class Action

IF YOU PURCHASED OR PAID FOR PREMARIN® IN ARIZONA, FLORIDA, IOWA, KANSAS, MAINE, MASSACHUSETTS, MICHIGAN, MINNESOTA, MISSISSIPPI, NEW MEXICO, NORTH CAROLINA, NORTH DAKOTA, SOUTH DAKOTA, TENNESSEE, VERMONT, WEST VIRGINIA AND WISCONSIN SINCE MARCH 24, 1999 OR IN NEVADA SINCE OCTOBER 1, 1999, THIS MAY AFFECT YOUR RIGHTS.

On January 12, 2007, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Western Division, entered an order giving preliminary approval of a Settlement.

On August 6, 2007, the Court ordered that the funds remaining after costs have been paid to the Notice Administrator shall be divided into substantially equal parts and paid in substantially equal amounts to: (a) the National Women’s Health Resource Center; and (b) the Society for Women’s Health Research.

Premarin® is a conjugated estrogens product prescribed by doctors to relieve the symptoms associated with menopause and to prevent osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. Plaintiff alleges that the manufacturers Wyeth Pharmaceuticals (formerly Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories, Inc.) and Wyeth (formerly American Home Products Corporation) violated federal antitrust and the state antitrust, unfair competition, and unjust enrichment laws in certain states by engaging in anti-competitive and exclusionary conduct that blocked consumer access to Cenestin®, another estrogen therapy product. Plaintiff does not challenge the safety or effectiveness of Premarin®.

The proposed “Class” include: Consumers and Third-Party Payors of Premarin®.

Consumer Plaintiffs are individuals who paid for some or all of the price of the prescription drug Premarin® in Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin at any time from March 24, 1999 to January 12, 2007 (the “Consumer Subclass”).

Third-Party Payor Plaintiffs are entities such as insurance companies, union health and welfare benefit plans and other organizations that paid for or reimbursed for all or part of the cost of a member’s Premarin® prescription in Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin at any time from March 24, 1999 to January 12, 2007, or in Nevada at any time from October 1, 1999 to January 12, 2007 (the “Third-Party Payor Subclass”).

Not included in the “Class” are the Defendants (along with their parents, subsidiaries, or affiliates), all governmental entities, all persons or entities that purchased Premarin® directly from the Defendants or for purposes of resale, any consumer who paid a fixed cost, or “flat co-pay,” to purchase Premarin®, as well as any consumer who was fully insured or fully reimbursed for such purchases.

If you are a “Class Member” and want to be excluded from the Class, you must mail a signed letter asking to be excluded to: Premarin Litigation Administrator, P.O. Box 24746, West Palm Beach, FL 33416. Include your name, the name of the person or entity seeking exclusion, an address and telephone number. All exclusion requests must be postmarked no later than April 27, 2007.

A Fairness Hearing has been scheduled for June 15, 2007 at 1:30 pm in Court Room 2.

determine whether the Settlement is fair, reasonable and adequate and in the best interests of the Class, whether it should be approved by the Court, and whether judgment should be entered;
consider the applications of attorneys for Plaintiffs and the Class for an award of reimbursement of litigation expenses not to exceed $325,000; and
consider any other issues the Court thinks necessary.

If you are a Class Member as defined above, and you have not requested exclusion from of the Class, you may still object to the fairness, reasonableness or adequacy of the Settlement or the applications for litigation expenses.

To object, you (or your lawyer if you have one) must file a written statement with the Clerk of the Court, United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, 100 East Fifth Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202, on or before June 1, 2007. Follow the instructions on page 4 of the Notice in the section entitled, “How do I object or participate in the Fairness Hearing?”.

For further information, including the Summary Notice, Court documents and a list of the frequently asked questions, click on the links to the right.