Posted at: 01/06/2010 5:01 PM | KSAX.com
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Court Sends Ark. Prempro Cases Back to Minn.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - A federal appeals court has ordered a return to state court for more than 100 lawsuits against the makers of hormone replacement therapy drugs that allegedly caused breast cancer.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday reversed a judge's ruling in the Eastern District of Arkansas that dismissed many of the cases and blocked most of the lawsuits from being sent back to state court in Minnesota.

The hormone replacement therapy was prescribed to treat symptoms of menopause. A study in the 1990s showed that a group of women taking the drugs had more instances of breast cancer than among women not taking the hormones.

The appeals court says the district court did not have jurisdiction, thus the dismissals were reversed.

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