GOLD RIVER, Calif., July 27 /PRNewswire/ — The latest diet drug trial
against Wyeth (NYSE: WYE) is set to commence this week in the Philadelphia
Court of Common Pleas with Judge Lisa M. Rau presiding. Plaintiff Jodi
Wier’s lawsuit alleging that the Wyeth-manufactured diet drug Pondimin
(part of the notorious Fen-phen combination) caused her fatal case of PPH
was filed in 2004 by Theodore J. Holt of Gold River, California.
PPH is a serious and often fatal lung disease associated with the use
of the popular diet drugs known as Fen-phen, which were withdrawn from the market in 1997 after being linked to serious heart and lung problems. A
2004 PPH trial in Beaumont, Texas resulted in a jury verdict of $1 Billion in compensatory and punitive damages.
Plaintiff Jodi Wier is a 41 year old mother of two adopted disabled
children. Mrs. Wier’s doctors have definitively diagnosed her with PPH
caused by diet drugs. The condition is serious and life threatening and
there is no cure. Research has shown that PPH is associated with diet drug use.
Since 1997, numerous lawsuits have been filed alleging both heart valve injuries and PPH. While a national class settlement was reached, it
included only valvular disease claims and not PPH claims. Attorney for
plaintiffs, Ted Holt of Hackard & Holt stated, “PPH is a serious incurable
disease that can take years to develop. We suspect there are still many
undiagnosed victims and that PPH litigation will continue well into the
future. The impact of these lawsuits on the company remains to be seen but, to paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of the death of diet drug litigation
appear to have been an exaggeration.”