Fen-Phen Claims Will Stand, Judge Orders

Washington, DCPfizer has lost its bid to have claims dismissed that alleged the lethal diet drug fen-phen caused disease years after people stopped taking it. Fen-phen was recalled in 1997 due to reports that it caused primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH), which can be fatal.

According to experts hired by the plaintiffs, fen-phen, manufactured by Wyeth, which was bought by Pfizer in 2009, can cause PPH more than 10 years after the last use of the diet drug.

The drug was enormously popular, with over 6 million prescriptions written before its recall. At one time, Wyeth faced in excess of 175,000 fen-phen- related claims alleging it hid the health risks in order to make billions in profits. Wyeth had set aside over $21 billion to settle fen-phen related lawsuits.

According to report by Bloomberg.com, fen-phen lung-disease lawsuits have generated verdicts and settlements in the tens of millions of dollars. In one case, a Texas jury awarded the family of Cynthia Cappel-Coffey $113 million in compensatory damages and $900 million in punitive damages. Cappel-Coffey had died from fen-phen related PPH.