Petkus characterized Mundy's book as one-sided and inaccurate. Last summer's settlement of a nationwide class-action suit involving about 365,000 individuals who took the drugs will be finalized when a federal court rules on remaining appeals, slated for a hearing this month. The settlement is designed to benefit former users whether or not they were part of the legal class. The first prescriptions were written in 1994. After researchers in July 1997 publicly tied use of the drugs to a higher risk of heart valve disease, Wyeth-Ayerst pulled both drugs from the market.
Former users can also sue the company for personal damages.
Thousands of individual suits involving fen-phen are still pending. The Daily Camera. All rights reserved. Any copying, redistribution, or retransmission of any of the contents of this service without the express written consent of The Daily Camera is expressly prohibited. Users of this site are subject to our User Agreement .