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Article updated: 1/8/2013 12:01 PM

Testimony begins in pregnancy drug case

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The Melnick sisters, who are suing Eli Lilly and Co. alleging that a synthetic estrogen known as DES caused them all to get breast cancer, at their hotel Monday in Boston. From left are Francine Melnick, Andrea Andrews, Donna McNeely and Michele Fecho.

Associated Press

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A lawyer for four sisters who believe their breast cancer was caused by a drug their mother took during pregnancy says drugmaker Eli Lilly failed to test its effect on fetuses before promoting it as a way to prevent miscarriages. The Melnick sisters say they all developed breast cancer in their 40s after their mother took the synthetic estrogen known as DES while pregnant. They say their mother did not take DES while pregnant with a fifth sister, and that sister has not developed breast cancer.