Fen Phen Attorney

When it first hit the market, American Home Products’ prescription diet drug Fen Phen was an instant success. Unfortunately, the so-called ‘wonder drug’ wasn’t everything it was cracked up to be, and in September 2007 Fen Phen was recalled at the request of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA). As it turns out, the combination of fenfluramine and dexfenfluramine was leading to severe and sometimes life-threatening heart valve injuries including primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH).

Free Fen Phen Lawsuit Evaluation: If you or a loved one has been injured by Fen Phen, you should contact our law firm immediately. You may be entitled to compensation by filing a lawsuit and we can help.

What’s the problem?

The diet drug fenfluramine (Pondimin) was approved for sale on the U.S. market by the Food & Drug Administration in 1973. The medication combines dexfenfluramine and levofenfluramine to elicit a feeling of fullness by increasing serotonin levels in the brain. It was later discovered that combining fenfluramine with the appetite suppressing stimulant phentermine (Redux) could result in astounding weight loss with apparently fewer potential harmful side effects.

In the early to mid-1990’s, these seemingly magic pills launched a so-called ‘Fen Phen’ craze in which millions of Americans, mostly women, took the drugs to lose weight and keep their energy levels high. Over the years, fen phen products have included:

• Pondimin - The first drug used in terms of the ‘fen’ part of fen phen. Pondimin’s active ingredient is fenfluramine, and was manufactured by American Home Products.

• Redux - Offering essentially the same effect as pondimin, redux’s active medication is dexfenfluramine, which is basically identical to fenfluramine.

• Phentermine - Manufactured under a variety of different names, phentermine is the drug that has produced the most immediate visible side effects in users. To date, phentermine has not been involved in litigation and was used as the facilitator to fenfluramine and dexfenfluramine when using fen-phen.

• Fen Phen - This combination of pondimin and phentermine became widely popular immediately after being released. Pondimin had been on the market for some time, but wasn’t as popular because Fen Phen was able to cancel out the drug’s sleepy side effects.

Fen Phen Side Effects

Problems with Fen Phen began to surface when up to 30% of echocardiograms of women who had taken the drug showed heart valve abnormalities, despite presenting no other symptoms. Additional testing has revealed that serious Fen Phen side effects may include (but are not limited to):

• Primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH), which is also known as pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH)
• Heart murmurs
• Heart valve thickening
• Heart valve regurgitation
• Heart valve leaks
• Death

By July 1997, the Mayo Clinic reported at least two dozen cases of heart valve disease among female Fen Phen users. By September 30th of that year, the FDA had received at least 144 reports of Fen Phen heart valve damage. By that time, the drug had become conclusively linked to valvular damage and leakage on both sides of the heart, particularly the left valve. The valve damage associated with Fen Phen was reported to occur at a rate of nearly 80%, with the median duration of drug use being approximately nine months. 27 of the case patients required emergency cardiac valve replacement surgery, and three of these patients died during the procedure.

Primary Pulmonary Hypertension (PPH)

Primary pulmonary hypertension occurs when blood pressure in the pulmonary artery (the main blood vessel connecting the right heart ventricle to the lungs) is higher than normal for no apparent reason. Higher than normal pulmonary artery blood pressure causes the heart to work much harder to pump sufficient quantities of blood into the lungs. Over time, the heart muscles weaken and may eventually fail.

PPH is synonymously known as idiopathic pulmonary hypertension or unexplained pulmonary hypertension, and has been linked to Fen Phen, Redux, and Pondimin. Signs and symptoms of primary pulmonary hypertension may include:

• difficulty breathing
• shortness of breath
• fatigue
• fainting
• lightheadedness
• color change in hands
• swelling of the hands and feet
• an increase in the pulmonic second heart sound
• enlargement of the main pulmonary artery

PPH is a relatively rare lung disorder, with an estimated 500 to 1,000 new cases being diagnosed each year around the country. The greatest number of cases have been shown to occur in females between 20 and 40 years of age, but anyone at any age can develop the disease. In the year 2000 alone, there were approximately 163,000 hospital discharges in which PPH was one of the diagnoses.

Fen Phen Recall

Fen Phen was pulled from the U.S. market in 1997 after a request for removal was submitted by the FDA. However, by that time millions of prescriptions had been filled for the drug. Between 1995 and 1997, it is estimated that approximately 14 million prescriptions were written for Fen Phen medications.

Within months of Fen Phen’s recall, lawsuits began cropping up all over the country. According to court documents, American Home Products (AHP) knew about the potential side effects associated with the drug, but failed to warn patients of the inherent dangers. Only when the FDA initiated an official investigation did Fen Phen get pulled from the market.

Do You Have a Fen Phen Lawsuit?

The Product Liability & Defective Drug Litigation Group at our law firm is an experienced team of trial lawyers that focus on the representation of plaintiffs in Fen Phen lawsuits. We are handling individual litigation nationwide and currently accepting new Fen Phen primary pulmonary hypertension lawsuits in all 50 states.

Free Fen Phen Lawsuit Evaluation: Again, if you or a loved one has been diagnosed with primary pulmonary hypertension or other serious heart or lung disease after taking Fen Phen, you should contact our law firm immediately. You may be entitled to compensation by filing a lawsuit and we can help.