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Fen-Phen - Class Action Information
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On January 3, 2002, a national settlement, valued at $3.75 billion, of the thousands of lawsuits brought against
American Home Products to recover for injuries from taking the now-banned prescription drugs Pondimin (fenfluramine)
or Redux (dexfenfluramine), both of which were manufactured by American Home Products, received final judicial
approval. The drugs were often used in combination with the prescription drug phentermine (Ionamin), leading to
the popular name "fen-phen," although the settlement does not cover people who used only phentermine. Nearly six
million Americans are believed to have taken Pondimin or Redux or both. Pondimin and Redux drugs were removed
from the market in September, 1997 after the release of medical evidence linking Pondimin and Redux to primary
pulmonary hypertension, heart valve problems, and neurotoxicity (damage to the neurons) of the brain.
The settlement created a settlement trust to pay fen-phen claims. Persons who took either Pondimin or Redux for any
length of time are automatically entitled to benefits under the settlement. As of January 18, 2002, the trust had paid
out $547,128,991 in matrix benefits, over 124,391 claimants had been notified of their eligibility to participate in
the echocardiogram screening program, and over 21,685 claimants had received other settlement payments.
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