Tampa, FLRob Phillips took Fen Phen in the early 1990s and he started to lose weight, but his doctor advised him to stop taking it after an article was published linking the diet drug with possible heart damage and Primary Pulmonary Hypertension (PPH). The warning may have come too late: In November of 2006, Phillips had heart surgery for treatment of PPH.
Phillips (not his real name pending a lawsuit) only took Fen Phen for about four or five months. It was almost a fluke when he was diagnosed with PPH. "I had a prosthetic aortic valve that had been placed in 1969. I went to the hospital in November, 2006 to replace this valve and before they did the surgery I had a heart catheterization—it went in through the femeral artery. As the catheterization progressed, they saw some problems so they did another one through the jugular vein. That is when they determined that I had PPH. The doctors said that with PPH, I may not be operable. But if they can adjust this problem with drugs, they will go ahead and do the surgery.
It took about five days on this medication and the surgery was successful. They replaced the old valve with a new mechanical valve. And while they were doing the surgery, they did a correction on the mitral valve—where the damage had occurred due to Fen Phen.
Now I heard there are other lawsuits against the drug maker. I have all the proof necessary to show that I have PPH; I was also prescribed a drug that was developed specifically to treat PPH. They had me on the drug in hospital but my insurer won't approve it for primary hypertension.
They discovered this drug had another benefit and named it Viagra.
Now it is cost-prohibitive. My insurer won't pay for Viagra because it is so expensive. I went through an appeal but there isn't a replacement drug. This is how Viagra works for my condition: it relaxes the blood vessels in your lungs so you have a greater lung capacity. Now I am trying to develop a greater lung capacity through physical therapy, three times a week. My heart is feeling better but I can't afford a pill that costs $40, three times a day.
I am retired on a fixed income. It is disgusting that the drug company is doing this. The drug company is making huge windfall profits from people who can afford to pay. I can afford the cheap drugs, but I happen to need the expensive drug for PPH. I have one of the best heart surgeons around who prescribed Viagra to treat PPH and now I have some clerk in some health insurance office deciding that I shouldn't have this drug--denying the medical care I need.
I wrote a letter to my congresswoman and this issue is already in the appeals process. I want her to protect the patient; when a physician makes a decision about the best treatment and prescribes it, that is what we should be using and not having to go through the process and getting denied. In my case, Humana Insurance Company denied me.
I didn't get involved in the original Fen-phen lawsuit because I didn't have a leaky valve back in the late 1990s. But I do now. My situation is complex because of my aortic valve and it caused enlargement of the large ventricle. So if I didn't have this replaced valve, maybe if I didn't take the Fen-phen, the mitral valve wouldn't be damaged...
However, the facts are there: I took Fen phen and my mitral valve is damaged. But most frustrating is that I can't get the right treatment."