Eli Lilly sued over fertility drug claimed to cause breast cancer

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Four sisters in Boston have sued Eli Lilly, claiming a drug their mother took while she was pregnant later caused their breast cancer.

Further, they say Eli Lilly knew the risk of the drug, diethylstilbestrol (DES), and didn't warn patients.

The sisters say in the 1950s their mother took the drug, a fertility treatment for pregnant women meant to prevent miscarriages and premature births.

DES was pulled from pharmacies in the 1970s after it was linked to another type of cancer.

“I'm sad for my mother who took this because she wanted to have us and wasn't explained the risks of what she took,” said Andrea Andrews.

Now the four sisters say they’ve suffered fertility and reproductive problems. But it was their breast cancer diagnoses that prompted them to look at a DES link.

“I was the first in 1998,” Michele Fecho said of her diagnosis. “Donna, 2002. Andrea and Francine, the same day in 2003.”

They four sisters say their mother had another daughter, but their mother did not take DES during that pregnancy. That sister has never been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Eli Lilly hasn't responded directly. However, in court papers their lawyers say the sisters have no evidence to back up their claim.

Jury selection begins Friday.

This is the first case of its kind, but more than 50 other cases dealing DES and a breast cancer link have been filed in federal courts. Eli Lilly has also settled more than 250 DES cases out of court.