Published by Kip A. Petroff, the founding and senior partner at Petroff & Associates in Dallas, Texas focusing on the representation of people injured by the weight loss drugs commonly known as Fen Phen.

The current state of fen-phen cases

12 Dec
Fifteen years after fen-phen was pulled off the market, there continue to be new claims filed. These cases generally fall into two broad categories: (1) cases that are part of the Nationwide Class Action Diet Drug Settlement Agreement and (2) cases that fall outside the Settlement Agreement. I’ll explain the difference below. Cases within the .... read more
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The rise and fall of fen phen – Part III

29 Oct
This is the final installment of the Rise and Fall of Fen Phen (read Parts I and II). The fen-phen litigation took a familiar path to get to this point.  Like most mass torts that eventually settle, it began with lawsuits filed in court, followed by “discovery” (this is where the parties exchange information), then .... read more
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The rise and fall of fen-phen – Part II

24 Oct
This is a continuation of my last post, The rise and fall of fen-phen – part I. I left off with describing how in 2003 and 2004 it appeared that the multibillion dollar Nationwide Settlement Agreement was on the verge of collapse. The number of expected claims had been vastly underestimated—Wyeth estimated that less than .... read more
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The story of fen-phen and what we can learn from it

19 Oct
Last month marked the fifteen-year anniversary of the withdrawal of fen-phen—the once popular diet drug combo of phentermine and Pondimin or Redux. I have been involved in the fen-phen litigation that followed from the very beginning—taking corporate rep depositions within months of the drugs’ withdrawal and trying the first case in the country back in .... read more
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Locaserin- Flashback to Fen-Phen

17 May
Locaserin- Flashback to Fen Phen. The race to become the first FDA approved diet drug in more than a decade has a new front-runner. A panel of expert advisors voted (18-4 vote with one abstention) to recommend that the FDA approve Arena’s locaserin. Locaserin is one of three experimental weight-loss drugs whose developers are trying, .... read more
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Thought you had a “Guarantee,” not so fast… AHP Trust’s “bait and switch”

19 Mar
In what is becoming a disturbing trend, the AHP Settlement Trust (with the full support of Class Counsel) is advocating another new position that will even further reduce and frequently eliminate settlement benefits to deserving claimants. The central issue is one of timing: when do certain medical conditions known as “alternative causation factors” have to .... read more
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Fen-phen all over again?

21 Feb
FDA still has concerns over Qnexa, but push is on for drug approval The obesity drug Qnexa is in the news this week as its maker, Vivus, Inc., tries to convince a concerned FDA Advisory Panel that the drug is safe and effective.  FDA officials still have safety concerns about this experimental diet pill.  The .... read more
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The Trust’s new interpretation of the Fen-Phen Settlement Agreement does not bode well for Claimants

9 Feb
In recent posts we have mentioned the Trust’s increasingly aggressive stance against claimants when evaluating claims. This approach has resulted in situations where the Trust sometimes seems to ignore or reinterpret the strict requirements of the Settlement Agreement. Class Counsel sometimes joins with the Trust on these new interpretations and it seems Class Counsel rarely, .... read more
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The Settlement Agreement, the Seventh Amendment, and Matrix Benefits – what does all this mean?

4 Jan
We have had several questions about the Settlement Agreement, the Seventh Amendment, and Matrix Benefits. This post is meant to provide some general background information on each that may be useful when reading and understanding future/past blogs. The Nationwide Class Action Settlement Agreement with American Home Products Corporation (“Settlement Agreement”) provides money benefits called “Matrix” .... read more
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Understanding the 2011 Fen-Phen Deadline

17 Nov
An estimated six million Americans took the diet drug commonly known as fen-phen in the late 1990s, and over 400,000 of them registered for a $4.8-billion nationwide class action settlement in 1999. But many eligible members of the class may not know they will soon lose all rights to seek additional cash benefits unless they .... read more
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Recent Phentermine Death No Cause For Panic

14 Nov
Recently it was revealed that Bubba Smith, former Baltimore Colts defensive star, had a high concentration of the drug phentermine in his system when he died recently. Phentermine is the “PHEN” in Fen-Phen, and some people have been wondering about the implications for Fen-Phen users. While I am not a doctor and I haven’t personally .... read more
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The Petroff & Associates Fen-Phen Blog Has Arrived

7 Nov
Over six million Americans took the diet drug combination known as fen-phen (also known as Pondimin or Redux).  Nearly 500,000 of these former fen-phen users still have active class action claims under the Nationwide Class Action Settlement Agreement with AmericanHome Products Corporation (“Fen-Phen Settlement Agreement” or “Diet Drug Settlement Agreement”).  Yet, there is no single .... read more
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