November 9, 2009, 05:00:00AM. By Charles Benson

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Houston, TX: Houston Attorney John O'Quinn, widely known and respected in legal circles for his lucrative Fen-Phen settlement and successful prosecution of the tobacco industry, was killed in a car accident late last week.

O'Quinn earned a $1 billion verdict against Wyeth Laboratories, makers of the popular appetite suppressant Fen-Phen after the FDA linked the diet drug to primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH), a lung disorder that raises blood pressure in the pulmonary artery to dangerous levels, requiring the right side of the heart to work harder to continue supplying oxygen to the blood.

PPH can lead to chest pain, dizziness, swelling in the extremities, heart attack and strokes. It has no cure and is a degenerative condition.

Over the past 15 years, the FDA has investigated more than 800 reports of Fen-Phen side effects, reporting that at least 150 deaths have been directly associated with the drug.

O'Quinn is also responsible for a $17.3 billion settlement in a suit brought against the tobacco industry in Texas.

According to a local news report, O'Quinn was speeding across a rainy road outside of downtown Houston when he lost control of his car, slamming into a tree. He was 68.

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