Washington (H24N). A federal judge has signed off on a $3.75 billion settlement between the makers of the failed diet drug supplement fen-phen, and thousands of users.

Marketed under the name Pondimin, and a related product call Redux, fen-phen was withdrawn in 1997 after a Mayo Clinic study linked potentially fatal heart valve damage to the drug fenfluramine, the "fen" in fen-phen. The second drug, phentermine, has not been linked to any serious side effects.

More than 9,000 claims have been filed against American Home Products, which manufactured fenfluramine. Under the plan approved Monday, the company would provide up to $1.5 million per claim, depending on injuries sustained, or length of time the product was used. Monday's move by U.S. District Judge Louis C. Brechtle follows the preliminary approval he granted last year.

American Home Products Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John R. Stafford said his company is satisfied: "We have always felt this was a fair and equitable settlement, and we're very pleased that Judge Bechtle has agreed." Barring any appeals, claimants could begin receiving their settlement checks as early as January.

But appeals may be on the way, since many of the attorneys representing claimants in the case reportedly object that the monetary damages do not go far enough, and that the settlement has no provision for people who may develop heart trouble at a later date. An estimated 6 million people took fen-phen before it was yanked off store shelves, and as many as 45,000 users have refused to join the settlement, paving the way for more legal action.

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