Million Dollar Settlement: Fen-Phen
May 17, 2001
Penny Luckel from Jackson, Mississippi is now several million dollars richer after her lawyers settled her case against American Home Products (AHP). Luckel, who took American Home Products' drug combination fen-phen, suffered from leaky heart valves and was forced to undergo open-heart surgery to correct the problem.
This is one of many cases brought against American Home Products in relation to fen-phen. Over 6 million people took the diet drug fen-phen, which is the combination of Pondimin (fenfluramine) or Redux (dexfenfluramine), and Phentermine. In the second year of its success, fen-phen users started to complain of breathing and chest problems that were later linked to Redux and Pondimin. In fact, a study from the Mayo Clinic confirmed that many of the patients who took these drugs suffered from potentially deadly heart-valve disease.
Before Luckel brought her case against American Home Products, the company had already agreed to pay patients who had taken Redux or Pondimin an estimated $3.5 billion. Despite the agreement, 45,000 fen-phen users refused the settlement and opted to bring their own cases to court.
-- Article Courtesy of InjuryBoard.com
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