Pph Lawsuit

American Home Products (AHP) withdrew fen phen from the U.S. market on September 15, 1997. Fen phen experienced immediate success after its introduction with 18,000,000 prescriptions written in 1996 alone. It has been estimated that between 6 million and 7 million people took fen phen in the U.S. prior to the FDA withdrawal.

Fen phen was associated to a serious and fatal condition called primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH), but the numerous fen phen supporters did not want to hear about the possible risks that involved fen phen with the successful weight loss that people were experiencing. Evidence that American Home Products withheld information of the serious and fatal health complications fen phen could cause before the FDA withdrawal became a controversial subject and numerous class actions and individual lawsuits were being pursued. In a 1996 study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, it concluded that there is a twenty-three-fold increase in the risk of developing PPH when using fen phen for more than three months.

The individual lawsuits and class actions in federal and state courts were filed due to the adverse health effects the drugs caused like PPH even before fen phen’s withdrawal. The fen phen lawsuits sought compensation to cover monetary damages, medical monitoring, and screening. On December 10, 1997, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation transferred all federal fen phen cases to the U.S. District Court, and negotiations of a nationwide settlement to settle the claims resulting from fen phen use began. The settlement class received preliminary approval on November 23, 1999, and on May 2, 2000 the court held a hearing to determine if the proposed Settlement Agreement was fair, adequate, and reasonable.

The Settlement Agreement was approved on August 28, 2000, and the AHP Settlement Trust was established as of September 1, 2000. The Trial Court Approval of the Settlement Agreement was appealed to a higher court and the ruling was affirmed on August 15, 2001. Although the appeal requested all the judges to rehear the appeal, the request was denied on October 3, 2001. Final Judicial Approval was received on January 3, 2002 for the Nationwide Class Action Settlement Agreement with American Home Products.

Patients suffering from Primary Pulmonary Hypertension (PPH) caused by Fen-Phen are NOT involved in the Nationwide Class Action Settlement Agreement with American Home Products. PPH patients must file independent lawsuits to make legal claims.

For legal advice and/or assistance regarding a PPH Lawsuit, please contact us to speak with a PPH Lawyer.

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