Fen Phen
A combination of diet drugs commonly called "Fen-Phen" was widely used in the 1990s to promote weight loss. The "Fen-Phen" drugs included Fenfluramine ("Pondimin," which was taken together with the drug Phentermine) and Dexfenfluramine ("Redux").
However, by 1997 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had received numerous reports of health damage caused by these drugs, including valvular heart disease and primary pulmonary hypertension. In addition, the Mayo Clinic released a study around that time reporting that as many as 25 to 30 percent of the patients who took these drugs had evidence of heart valve damage. As a result, the FDA asked the drug maker, American Home Products (AHP), to voluntarily withdraw the drugs from the market, which they did.
As Pondimin and Redux were pulled from the market, a storm of litigation ensued. As a result, AHP agreed to a nationwide class action settlement of related claims.
Baron & Budd played a lead role in representing plaintiffs injured by the diet drugs commonly known as “Fen-Phen” in claims filed both with the AHP Settlement Trust and numerous state courts. Baron & Budd was also instrumental in negotiating the Seventh Amendment to the AHP Settlement Agreement, which commits the defendant to a substantial additional contribution to the Trust, plus a guaranteed surgery benefit for progression claims, for most Level I and II Matrix claims on-file with the Trust.
