Reno Nevada. - Three northern Nevada women are scheduled to go to trial this week against Wyeth Pharmaceuticals in the latest lawsuit claiming that the company's hormone replacement drugs cause breast cancer. 

In their lawsuit filed in Washoe County District Court, the women contend Wyeth minimized the risk involved with Prempro and Premarin, and failed to adequately test the drugs.

Jeraldine Scofield, 75, of Fallon; Arlene Rowatt, 67, of Incline Village; and Pamela Forrester, 65, of Yerington, were diagnosed with breast cancer after taking the drugs to alleviate the symptoms of menopause.

The trial, which is expected to last six weeks, will begin Monday with jury selection and Tuesday with opening statements.

"Plaintiffs are eager to present their cases to a jury of their Nevada peers over the next few weeks," said Geoffry White, one of their lawyers. "Let the jury, not Wyeth's PR people, decide if Wyeth acted responsibly in promoting hormone therapy."

Both drugs remain on the market and carry the approval of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and both continue to be prescribed annually to hundreds of thousands of women.

The three Nevada women knew or should have known about the risk of taking Prempro because warnings were on drug bottles, Delaware-based Wyeth contends. There's no way to make a direct connection between breast cancer and the drugs, the company adds.

"Wyeth has always acted responsibly when it comes to its hormone-therapy products, making sure that the warnings contained in labeling are consistent with the science at the time," Wyeth spokesman Doug Petkus told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Wyeth is fighting 5,300 lawsuits brought by about 7,800 women across the country alleging injury with the use of Prempro and Premarin, according to the company's financial report.

Of 18 suits involving breast cancer and the hormone therapy drugs that have been resolved, 15 were in Wyeth's favor, two were settled and one favored the plaintiff, Wyeth said.

The women's lawyers disputed the company's claims.

"There have been at least three plaintiffs' jury verdicts against Wyeth, all in excess of $1 million for each hormone-related breast cancer victim," White said.

The Upjohn Co., maker of the hormone replacement drug Provera, was named in the lawsuit but settled with the three women for an undisclosed amount.

Rowatt used Provera and Premarin from 1992 to 1996, and switched over to Prempro in 1996. She continued to use it until she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2000.

Scofield began taking Premarin in 1984 and added Provera to the mix in 1997. She stayed on both until 1999 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Forrester began taking Premarin and Provera in 1994 and continued until 1996, when she switched over to Prempro. She continued on the latter until 2003, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Forrester later underwent surgery, while both Rowatt and Scofield underwent a mastectomy.