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The Food and Drug Administration later required warnings to be added to the drugs and advised women to consult their doctors about whether they should continue treatment.

The drugs have been marketed for long-term use since the 1940s and the suit claims Wyeth has "vigorously promoted" hormone therapy medications by sponsoring medical journal articles, having sales representatives call doctors, advertising directly to patients and hiring doctors to push their products to other physicians.

The companies failed to warn doctors and patients that the medications could contribute to the risk of breast cancer and used "aggressive" marketing campaigns that misrepresented potential side effects and safety concerns, the suit alleges.

"By the late 1990s and early in 2000, defendants knew about studies showing a significantly increased risk of breast cancer for women using combination hormone therapy," the suit states.

"Defendants' representations were false and misleading and were intended to downplay the cancer risks associated with hormone ...

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