PPH and Fen-Phen: Herbal Recipe Just as Dangerous

Washington, DCMany people equate the words "natural", "organic" and "herbal" as safe and harmless, and good for you. But when it comes to herbal Fen-phen, nothing could be further from the truth. The association with PPH and Fen-phen has been known since 1997, and since that time, some companies put herbal Fen-phen on the market. But this herbal version—and other dietary supplements—contains ephedra, which has been linked to primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH).

So, it's round two for Fen-phen lawsuits as many people have been taking herbal dietary supplements thinking they were safe. Just a few months after the Fen-phen recall was announced by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the agency issued another warning about herbal Fen Phen products that were being marketed to former patients as a "natural alternative" to Fen Phen.

In November 1997—just two months after the Fen Phen recall was issued—the Food and Drug Administration issued a warning about herbal Fen Phen products that were being marketed to former patients as a "natural alternative" to Fen Phen. The agency warned that herbal Fen Phen may contain ingredients that had been linked to serious side effects, including high blood pressure, heart attacks, strokes and death. Researchers had found a link between the diet drugs and PPH-- a life threatening condition causing high blood pressure in the artery that carries blood from the heart to the lungs.

The Journal of the American Medical Association reported Fen-phen users were ten times more likely to develop PPH than other patients and that people who had taken the dietary cocktail for longer than three months had a 28 times greater risk of PPH.

In April 2004, the FDA banned the sale of dietary supplements containing ephedra (ma huang)—which were sometimes marketed as "herbal Fen Phen" and Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said that it and other supplements containing ephedra presented an "unreasonable risk to the public health."

Since herbal Fen-phen was pulled from the market, the FDA has received more than 1,000 reports of side effects and at least 150 deaths. Side effects are mirror images of the old Fen-phen: PPH, hypertension (high blood pressure), irregular heart rate, tremors, seizures, heart attacks and strokes.

Fen-phen Settlement
The 1997 Fen-phen settlement did not affect PPH victims. If you suffer from PPH and it is related to the use of Fen-phen or herbal Fen-phen containing ephedra, you may be entitled to compensation.