A woman who claimed diet drugs caused her lung-destroying disease has been awarded $3 million by a New Jersey jury, Bloomberg News reports.
The verdict against Wyeth, the maker of Pondimin, was handed down on Oct. 22. The plaintiff, Gloria Stribling filed suit in Bergen County Superior Court after she was diagnosed with primary pulmonary hypertension, an often-fatal illness.
Pondimin and another Wyeth-made drug, Redux, were often combined with phentermine to form the appetite suppressant fen-phen. More than six million people were described the diet-drug cocktail before Wyeth pulled the drugs from the market in 1997 after researchers linked the treatment to heart damage and PPH.
Stribling took the fen-phen combination from November 1995 to October 1996. She was diagnosed with PPH a decade later. The trial against Wyeth began on Sept. 3. The jury concluded that Pondimin was a “substantial contributing factor” in causing the lung disease.
Wyeth, which has set aside $21 billion to cover costs associated with fen-phen litigation, is reviewing post-trial options.
It is now well-established that new cases of PPH caused by the diet drugs are now being diagnosed for the first time. This is because there may be a latency of 10-20 years after cessation of the diet drugs before the PPH disease occurs.
Carey, Danis & Lowe has tried and or resolved Fen-Phen opt-out cases . We are dedicated to obtaining compensation for people who have this disease through the negligence or deceit of drug companies. Although drug company executives were warned of the dangers of these drugs and knew of many cases of Fen-Phen-related PPH, they hid this information from the public.
If you believe that you or a loved one has contracted PPH from using Fen-Phen, contact Carey, Danis & Lowe today. We can help you obtain the compensation you’re entitled to by law.
