PPH and 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.

St Louis, MI Marty’s Fen-Phen side effects weren’t serious enough to qualify for a Fen-Phen lawsuit back in 2002, but his symptoms, namely primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH), have since worsened. Marty also thought he couldn’t file a claim against the makers of the weight loss drug due to the statute of limitations. Because there is a latency period of PPH, the statute doesn’t necessarily apply.

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.

Philadelphia, PA With recent news that obesity has been declared a disease come concerns that the focus now will be on drug companies creating a pill to cure obesity. That may sound well and good, but talk to anyone who suffered from fen-phen side effects, including persistent pulmonary hypertension, after taking the fen-phen diet pill, and they will tell you that obesity drugs may not be all they are cracked up to be.

Philadelphia, PA Imagine taking a medication and finding out later that it could cause serious health problems, and even death, years and years after you have originally taken it. That is what patients who took fen-phen for weight loss are dealing with. They know they could be at risk for primary pulmonary hypertension and valve problems, and they know those problems could arise at any time. They also know there is nothing they can do to prevent these fen-phen side effects from happening, even though it’s been a decade since they took the medication.

Dallas, TX When it comes to Fen-Phen, “it ain’t over til I’m over,” says Rosemary, who was recently diagnosed with primary pulmonary hypertension, or Fen-Phen PPH in Fen-Phen consumers.

Philadelphia, PA Although it has been years since Fen-Phen pills were taken off the market, Fen-Phen lawsuits continue to work their way through the courts. The lawsuits, filed against Pfizer, allege Fen-Phen side effects included a life-threatening condition known as primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH).

Washington, DC Fen-Phen, at one time a miracle weight loss drug that was pulled from the market due to grievous health concerns years ago, is back in part. That’s because the particular combination of Fenfluramine and Phentermine proved to be toxic, primarily due to the first ingredient, Fenfluramine. Phentermine, at the time and even now, was not seen to be a culprit. And so Phentermine is back, this time married to the anti-seizure medication Topiramate to promote weight loss. But some familiar concerns, akin to PPH and Fen-Phen, are back.

Charleston, WV “I used to work in a prosecutor’s office and like to keep up on legal news,” says Patricia, age 65 and a former Fen-phen consumer. “I subscribe to the LawyersandSettlements newsletter and that is how I discovered that you could re-open a Fen-phen claim—even if you settled. But I never filed a claim to begin with. I thought it had been completely settled-- now I am totally surprised.