Result: $4.75 billion paid to Fen-Phen users

Though the case is now over and our firm cannot take on any new injured Fen-Phen clients, for over a decade Lieff Cabraser successfully represented patients who took the diet drugs known as fen-phen and suffered serious injuries, including heart valve injuries or developed pulmonary hypertension. We represented over 2,000 individuals who suffered valvular heart disease, pulmonary hypertension, or other problems (such as needing echocardiogram screening for damage) due to and/or following exposure to Fen-Phen, and obtained more than $350 million in total for clients in individual cases and/or claims.

Our work on the Fen Phen (Diet Drugs) Litigation and Settlement

Lieff Cabraser represented individuals pursuing personal injury claims due to injuries from the “Fen-Phen” diet drugs fenfluramine (sold as Pondimin) and/or dexfenfluramine (sold as Redux). We served as counsel for the plaintiff that filed the first nationwide class action lawsuit against the diet drug manufacturers alleging that they had failed to adequately warn physicians and consumers of risks associated with the drugs.

Since the recall was first announced in 1997, Lieff Cabraser represented over 500 claimants in individual actions who suffered heart and/or lung damage, most often consisting of cardiac valve damage and/or Primary Pulmonary Hypertension (PPH) or Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH), after ingesting Pondimin or Redux.

In In re Diet Drugs (Phentermine | Fenfluramine | Dexfenfluramine) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 1203 (E.D. Pa.), the Court appointed Elizabeth J. Cabraser to the Plaintiffs’ Management Committee which organized and directed the Fen-Phen diet drugs litigation filed across the nation in federal courts. In August 2000, the Court approved a $4.75 billion settlement offering both medical monitoring relief for persons exposed to the drug and compensation for persons with qualifying damage. Lieff Cabraser also served on the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee in the California Coordinated Proceedings in California state court, and as class counsel in the State of Washington certified medical monitoring action.