Fen-Phen Legal News Articles & Interviews

Los Angeles, CA Ask anyone who was at all concerned about their weight in the mid-to-late ’90s and they’ll likely remember the fen-phen debacle: A weight loss drug that came with an increased risk of serious heart and lung problems. Those problems - primary pulmonary hypertension (now called pulmonary atrial hypertension) and/or heart valve problems - were the basis of many a fen-phen lawsuit. Thanks to those problems, diet drugs today are looked at skeptically by everyone from patients to health care providers.

Philadelphia, PA Remember Fen-Phen? Sure you do, especially if you were overweight in the 1990s and looking for a quick and easy way to shed the excess pounds from all that fast food, combined with lack of exercise. Fen-Phen, a hybrid of fenfluramine and phentermine, had been given the blessing of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and was touted as the miracle cure of the time for obesity.

Philadelphia, PA Many patients who took fen-phen and suffered fen-phen side effects such as primary pulmonary hypertension may have already settled their lawsuits against the company responsible for making the diet drug. Because fen-phen was pulled off the market so long ago, people might feel that lawsuits should already have been filed, and certainly some have. But for some patients, the statute of limitations has not yet run out.

Washington, DC It may have been pulled off the market 16 years ago, but for some, Fen-Phen remains a scourge. That’s because the once-popular diet pill combination of Fenfluramine and Phentermine is alleged to foster serious side effects that can take years to materialize.

Santa Fe, NM When patients take a medication, they generally expect side effects to show up within a year or two of taking the medication, which is why fen-phen side effects are so concerning to some people. The side effects of fen-phen can take a decade or more to arise and can be very serious. Although the fen-phen recall happened in 1997, the makers of fen-phen still face lawsuits alleging patients were harmed by their use of the weight-loss drug.

Washington, DC Pfizer has lost its bid to have claims dismissed that alleged the lethal diet drug fen-phen caused disease years after people stopped taking it. Fen-phen was recalled in 1997 due to reports that it caused primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH), which can be fatal.

Cincinnati, OH: A significant decision in a case being watched very closely by regulators, patient advocates and the entire pharmaceutical industry was reached recently regarding an en banc petition made by Wyeth in a Redux (commonly known as fen-phen) lawsuit.