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Fen-Phen: The Never-Ending Story

By Janice G. Inman
June 27, 2005

The national settlement of the fen-phen lawsuits was intended, among other things, to help defendant Wyeth, one of the world's largest pharmaceuticals manufacturers, put the lawsuits behind it. However, the number of claimants who opted out of the settlement is huge, and many of their cases are now coming to trial, with mixed results. Recently approved changes to the settlement process are also altering plaintiffs' rights. In short, the last chapter of this epic litigation is a long way from being written. So, what is happening with the fen-phen settlement and litigitions?

Background

Doctors across the United States had been prescribing the hugely popular phen-fen combination for weight loss for some time when Wyeth (formerly American Home Products) pulled its diet drugs Pondimin' and Redux' off the market in 1997. The drugs, containing fenfluramine — the “fen” in phen-fen — were eventually shown to cause heart valve and lung damage when combined with products containing the chemical phentermine — the “phen” in phen-fen.

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