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Fen Phen Information
Dr. Michael Weintraub developed fen phen
while working as a researcher at the University of Rochester.
The phentermine and pondimin combination in a low dose was
found to suppress appetite to fuel weight loss and have fewer
side effects then when the drugs were taken individually.
The weight loss drug combination was termed fen phen, and
the drug’s popularity was immediate. In 1996 alone there
were 18,000,000 prescriptions written for the appetite suppressant
fen phen.
A 1992 study involving 120 obese patients
that were treated with fen phen found that they lost an average
of 30 pounds. Both drugs were manufactured by American Home
Products to be used for the short-term use of weight loss.
Studies began to surface showing the adverse effects that
fen phen causes, but that did not stop the success of the
“miracle drug” until the Mayo Clinic released a
study that found fen phen to cause very serious
health complications in 1997. The health complications
that resulted involved serious and fatal heart complications.
In July of 1997 the FDA issued a warning regarding the use
of fen phen, followed by the withdrawal
of fen phen from the U.S. market.
Numerous class
actions and lawsuits followed the withdrawal of the popular
drug due to the number of primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH)
cases that began to surface. PPH is a serious disease that
is incurable. Former fen phen patients are still being diagnosed
with PPH despite the 1997 withdrawal due to the latency period
between drug use and disease symptoms appearing. In a 1996
study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, it
concluded that there is a twenty-three-fold increase in the
risk of developing PPH when using fen phen for more than three
months.
If
you have experienced the serious and fatal symptoms that result
from the use of fen phen, please contact us. In the U.S.
there are estimates that between 6 million and 7 million people
took fen phen. As of January 3, 2002, the Nationwide
Class Action Settlement Agreement involving American Home
Products has received Final Judicial Approval, allowing those
injured by fen phen to collect the compensation they are entitled
to.
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