2024 Fen-Phen Lawsuits Update

Fen-Phen Lawyer, Cynthia K. Garrett, has been representing Pondimin & Redux victims since 1998 and is accepting new Fen-Phen clients nationwide.  

2024 Update - Pondimin & Redux Diet Drug Settlement - Fen-Phen Lawsuits:

Qualifying Pondimin and Redux users who previously received Matrix Compensation from the Original AHP Settlement may file worsened injury claims for additional compensation if all of the requirements discussed below are met. 

2024 Update: Pondimin and Redux Settlement -

Qualifying Pondimin and Redux users who have already received Matrix Compensation from the Original AHP Settlement may file a supplemental claim if their condition worsens.  Incremental Matrix Compensation will be awarded if all of the following requirements are met.

REQUIREMENTS:

1. Registered with the AHP Settlement Trust on or before May 3, 2003. 
2. Provided proof of use of Pondimin or Redux.  
3. Established a baseline heart valve injury by submitting a qualifying echocardiogram - performed after first use of Pondimin or Redux and before the end of the screening period - which shows mild or greater mitral or aortic heart valve regurgitation. The screening period ended on July 3, 2003, for echocardiograms provided by the AHP Settlement Trust, and on January 3, 2003, for all others.   
4. Previously received Matrix Compensation at any of Levels 1 through 4 from the Original AHP Settlement Trust; and
5. Have since been diagnosed with a medical condition that qualifies for a Matrix Compensation level and dollar value above any previous awards received; and
6. That medical condition was diagnosed before the Pondimin/Redux user's 80th birthday and within four years of the date the claim will be filed.

Those who were included in the Seventh Amendment Settlement, a spinoff of the Original AHP Settlement, may no longer file claims.  All deadlines for their worsened injury claims ended December 31, 2015.  See details at the bottom of this page for discussion of who was included in the Seventh Amendment.

Fen-Phen is the common name of a weight loss protocol heavily marketed in the 1990's that included fenfluramine (Pondimin) or dexfenfluramine (Redux). Pondimin and Redux were shown to cause damage to the mitral and aortic heart valves; and a serious lung condition called primary pulmonary hypertension. 

What is a Fen-Phen Lawsuit: 

Qualifying Pondimin and Redux users who have already received Matrix Compensation from the Original AHP Settlement for a aortic or mitral heart valve injury may file a supplemental claim for additional compensation if their condition worsens and they meet all of the requirements found in the AHP Settlement Agreement and the Court's related orders. Qualifying Pondimin and Redux users who have been diagnosed with PPH may file a lawsuit in Federal Court.

1. Meet all of the requirements found above under the heading  Who Can Still File A Claim. 
2. Have been diagnosed with at least one of the Medical Conditions listed below.

1. Mitral or aortic heart valve repair or replacement surgery has been performed.
2. Mitral or aortic heart valve repair or replacement surgery is needed but cannot be performed due to other health risks.
3. Complications from mitral or aortic heart valve surgery including: stroke, coma, death, infection of the surgical site, kidney failure with dialysis, blood clot requiring surgery, quadriplegia or paraplegia due to spinal injury during valve surgery,  HIV or Hepatitis C acquired through blood transfusion during valve surgery. 
4. A second surgery to the same valve, aortic or mitral, within eighteen months of the first.
5. Severe pulmonary hypertension.
6. Sudden Cardiac Death and/or Cardiac Arrest, where an EKG taken at the time includes the arrhythmias known as: ventricular fibrillation and pulseless ventricular tachycardia. These conditions are treated with immediate defibrillation (electrical shocks to the heart) without which the patient will die within minutes, and may die despite these efforts.
7. Bacterial endocarditis (infection in the heart) which caused a stroke, peripheral embolus, coma or death.
8. Ejection fraction below 40% six months or more after aortic or mitral valve surgery.
9. Ejection fraction below 35% where valve surgery is needed but cannot be performed due to other health risks.
10. Blood clot originating in the heart that traveled elsewhere resulting in kidney damage, abdominal organ injury requiring surgery, or amputation of an arm, leg, hand or foot.
11. Have had, or need, a heart transplant.
12. Stroke with permanent disability, caused by chronic aortic fibrillation, heart valve disease, heart valve surgery, or any of the above.
13. Coma or vegetative state caused by chronic aortic fibrillation, heart valve disease, or any of the above.
14. Death caused by heart arrhythmia, heart valve disease, heart valve surgery, or from any of the above.​ 

Seventh Amendment participants may no longer file claims.  All deadlines for these persons expired on December 31, 2015. 

Pondimin and Redux users who were Category 1 or 2 claimants - as defined in the Seventh Amendment to the AHP Settlement Agreement -  were automatically included as participants in the Seventh Amendment Supplemental Settlement unless the claimant filed an opt-out form by November 9, 2004. 

Category 1 includes those who had an unresolved Green Form on file on November 9, 2004, which supported a Level I or II injury. 

Category 2 includes those who were diagnosed with mild or greater aortic or mitral heart valve regurgitation after first use of Pondimin or Redux and prior to the end of the Screening Period; and

• Had not filed a Green Form by November 9, 2004 supporting a claim for Matrix Levels III, IV or V; and
• Had not received Matrix Compensation before November 9, 2004; and
• Are not members of Category 1.