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“The FDA did not intend for these drugs to be marked for long term use," Meadows said.

"They were intended only for severe menopausal symptoms." Jere Beasley, a partner in Beasley Allen Attorneys at Law of Birmingham, said these drugs have life-threatening risks, like breast cancer, ovarian cancer, heart attacks, strokes and non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

Beasley said these pharmaceutical companies were aware of the risks, and promoted a dangerously high dosage and long-term usage without warning the customer of the significant risks associated with the prescription.

Melissa Prickett, another partner with Beasley Allen, said Graham began taking the medication in 1996 and stopped taking it in the summer of 2003, after learning she had developed breast cancer.

Biopsies with hormone receptors showed the tumor was caused by the hormone therapy medication.

"Graham's treatment included a lumpectomy to remove the tumor and seven weeks of radiation," Prickett said.

Meadows said these medications were first used in the 1960s and 1970s, and there was no testing done then to look for the possibility of breast cancer.

He added that in 2002, doctors began to realize the dangerous side effects of the hormone therapy medication.

Meadows said after this sales began to drop, and mo...

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