1.   Approval of the conjugated estrogen drug is bitterly opposed by American Home Products, the company that makes the prescription drug.

2.   Duramed Pharmaceuticals Inc. said it will appeal a Food and Drug Administration decision keeping its generic version of a blockbuster estrogen drug off the market.

3.   Merck has agreed to co-promote Fosamax with Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories, a division of American Home Products Corp. American Home sells Premarin, the leading estrogen drug.

4.   Premarin, an estrogen drug made by Wyeth-Ayerst, is the most prescribed drug in America.

5.   The drug did increase the risk of blood clots in the veins, though it was no more than estrogen replacement drugs, they said.

6.   The FDA is trying to decide which components need to be in generic versions of the top-selling estrogen drug Premarin so that they provide the same benefits.

7.   The maker of generic drugs is waiting for federal approval of its generic version of the popular estrogen drug Premarin.

8.   There is a lot of apparently conflicting information out there about estrogen drugs and hormone replacement therapy, she said.