The New York Times, "Tough Questions Are Raised On Fen-Phen Compensation"

          The trust set up to compensate people injured by fen-phen, the formerly popular diet drug, says that an alliance of doctors and lawyers filing invalid claims threatens to drain its coffers. Some plaintiffs' lawyers contend that the trust simply wants to delay making payments to deserving people who are sick.
          The dispute intensified last month when the trust filed a lawsuit against one doctor, asserting that she signed off on claims for people whose injuries should not qualify them for compensation. Documents filed with the court overseeing the trust show that other doctors were paid a million dollars or more by plaintiffs' lawyers to review hundreds or thousands of medical tests that might reveal heart damage from the drug, and that some doctors received an additional fee when they found serious damage that could support a claim.
          Lawyers for the trust say that such practices are forcing a review of each and every claim. And lawyers representing patients say this process has slowed considerably the payment of funds from the $3.75 billion trust, which is financed by Wyeth, the drug company that marketed fen-phen. Stuck in the middle are people who are sick and who have legitimate claims, but who must wait for the audits to be completed before recovering any money.