Lawyers Settle Fen-Phen Diet Drug Litigation
Date: Thu, 7 Oct 1999 14:58:48 -0700
From: ilena rose ilena@san.rr.com
Lawyers Settle Fen-Phen Diet Drug Litigation
WOODBRIDGE, N.J., Oct. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Plaintiffs' attorneys in the fen-phen diet drug litigation and American Home Products Corporation have entered into the largest personal injury settlement against any one company in U.S. history.
The landmark, nearly $5 billion nationwide settlement will provide as many as six million former Pondimin or Redux users with either medical care and health screening, product reimbursement or payment for injuries, as well as medical research.
"This settlement establishes one fund to cover medical monitoring, treatment, reimbursement and research/education," said attorney Christopher M. Placitella of Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer, of Woodbridge, N.J. and New York City, and a member of the Plaintiffs' Management Committee appointed in the Federal Diet Drug Litigation. "A second fund provides compensation to class members who have reached more serious levels of heart valve disease which are likely to require surgery or impact on their daily lives. No other settlement in U.S. history is as comprehensive," adds Placitella.
According to Placitella, one of the lead attorneys negotiating for class members and a veteran of other mass tort class actions involving tobacco, silicone breast implants and asbestos, "Class members have three opportunities to exclude themselves or 'opt out' of the settlement and pursue individual legal remedies." Placitella credits the trial team in the related New Jersey fen-phen class action as a catalyst to the global settlement and praises Middlesex County Superior Court Judge Marina Corodemus for her dedication and fairness to all parties. Those who believe they may be affected by the settlement can visit http://www.toxicinjury.com.
FEN-PHEN DIET DRUG LITIGATION SETTLEMENT FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Q: What is "Fen-Phen"?
A: The combination of American Home Products Corporation's Pondimin and/or Redux and phentermine was a popular diet cocktail known as "Fen-Phen."
Q: What type of health risk does it pose?
A: Varying levels of heart valve damage.
Q: Who is included as a "class member?"
A: Includes all of nearly six million individuals who consumed Pondimin and/or Redux, alone or in combination with phentermine, for any length of time.
Q: What does the settlement provide?
A: Provides medical monitoring as well as compensation for injury through two funds totaling almost $5 billion.
Fund A underwrites medical monitoring, treatment, reimbursement and research/education.
Fund B underwrites compensation for personal injury relating to heart disease.
Q: Can class members exclude themselves from the settlement?
A: Class members have three opportunities to "opt out" from the settlement and pursue individual legal remedies.
Q: What about punitive damages against the company?
A: The settlement prohibits class members from seeking punitive damages if they initially did not exclude themselves from the settlement. In return, the class members have a right to numerous benefits not currently available.
Q: Can class members collect before the settlement is approved by the court?
A: Class members may elect an Accelerated Implementation Option which allows them to receive the benefits of the settlement at an early date and regardless of whether the Settlement as a whole receives final judicial approval.
SOURCE Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer
CO: Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer; American Home Products Corporation
ST: New Jersey, New York
