Fen-Phen (or Phen-Fen)

Fen-Phen refers to the combination of fenfluramine or dexfenfluramine with phentermine. Fen-Phen was marketed in the 1990's as a weight loss solution. In the summer of 1999, the Mayo Clinic announced that 24 patients had developed heart valve disease after taking Fen-Phen. Under pressure from the FDA and the public, the manufacturer of the drugs (Pondimin and Redux), American Home Products Corporation, withdrew them from the market. Thousands of individual lawsuits and multiple class-actions were filed in federal and state courts across the country. In late 1997, all federal Fen-Phen cases were transferred to Pennsylvania to better coordinate pre-trial proceedings through a multi-district litigation. Under federal law, most people are automatically included in the nation-wide class action settlement that resulted, unless they chose to "opt out". This means that individuals with valid claims could only seek pre-defined compensation unless they filled out a form and submitted it to the court-specified address. The initial "opt out" deadline has passed. However, the settlement agreement contains an intermediate "opt out" deadline and a "back-end opt out" period for individuals meeting certain requirements. As a result, you may still have the right to pursue an individual lawsuit for the full amount of compensatory damages as well as punitive damages against American Home Products Corporation.

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