PPH: Could Fen-phen Come Back?

Chapel Hill, NCIt's been a few years since the diet drugs behind the gradual emergence of Primary Pulmonary Hypertension, or PPH, were pulled from the market and banned. Pondimin, Redux and the combination Fen-phen were considered the new frontier in weight loss, until the Crown Prince of Weight Loss was shown to have an ugly side.

But now, the appetite suppressant considered by many to be the most potent on the market, may have the potential for making a comeback, according to a team of researchers studying the link between Fen-phen and PPH.

The question is, were Fen-phen to actually return, would there still be side effects that would be considered dangerous? Would Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, already facing billions of dollars in lawsuits, be prepared to give the vilified Fen-phen a second chance?

Or would it ultimately be confirmed as the same devil it always was, only having been given the chance to show a different set of horns?

Time will tell. However, it has been reported that Dr. Bryan Roth of the University of North Carolina, has been doing research and was the first to identify the inherent mechanism behind the emergence of PPH.

The latter is a condition first diagnosed in the 1970s and appears in roughly 1,000 Americans every year, and mostly women between the ages of 20 and 40. A link to certain diet drugs and appetite suppressants was first made in 1996 with the publication of a study in the New England Journal of Medicine that found the use of Fen-phen for three months or longer increased the risk of developing PPH, a heart condition, by 23 percent.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) pulled Redux (dexfenfluramine), Pondimin (fenfluramine) and Fen-Phen (fenfluramine and phentermine) the following year.

Of interest is the fact that emergence, and diagnoses of PPH can be as long as ten years after diet drugs have been stopped. Not surprisingly, doctors began seeing an increase in the number of PPH diagnoses last year—ten years after the drugs were banned.

Living as we do in this fast food nation, it is little wonder that weight loss continues to be a national obsession—and especially with women, who are more likely than men to pursue weight loss for reasons of self esteem and pride, as well as for the pursuit of better health.

Many have written that nothing worked as effectively for them as Fen-phen, and lamented its removal when the ban was enacted. In its heyday, Fen-phen was so universally embraced that entire clinics were established for the sole purpose of dispensing Fen-phen to obese clients.

The lawsuits stemming from those prescriptions, and the health problems that have emerged, point to the allegation that the Fen-phen cocktail, and the individual drugs that served as the foundation for it, were not properly tested, and patients were not properly counseled in a classic case of going with the flow and embracing what was popular at the time.

The fact remains, however, that for many an effective replacement for Fen-phen has yet to be found more than ten years after it disappeared. For those not yet tarnished with the PPH brush, a return of Fen-phen would conceivably see people lined up at the door.

According to reports, the dark side of Fen-phen and the link to PPH has to do with a serotonin receptor found specifically in the heart. Now that the discovery has been apparently confirmed, it opens the door for a possible return of Fen-phen to the marketplace.

While it is unknown if Wyeth would ever take a second chance on Fen-phen, it has been reported that a number of companies are considering its resurrection, and the drug with a revised profile is said to be in the testing phase on humans, with good safety data.

Dr. Bryan Roth, quoted by WCRB Channel 3 Chattanooga, says, "If it is safe, then that would be a major advance."

We shall see. In the meantime if you are a former Fen-phen user and have suddenly developed symptoms of PPH, a qualified PPH lawyer can assist you. The initial symptoms of PPH can include weakness, fatigue, shortness of breath, chest pain, dizzy spells and fainting. Advanced symptoms of PPH, due to delayed diagnosis, can include bluish lips and skin, ankle and lower leg swelling, increased chest pain, and even death.

But don't wait until that happens. Call a PPH lawyer today.