| Fen-Phen Settlement Trust in Shambles New lawsuit promises to reveal evidence that Settlement Trust is mistreating victims, improperly denying payment of approved claims and on the verge of bankruptcy due to inadequate funding April 1, 2004 – Today, Fen-Phen victim John Bacon filed suit in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia against the Fen-Phen Settlement Trust claiming it improperly rescinded its promise to pay his claim after its auditor determined that he met the settlement’s criteria. This lawsuit is the most recent example of the brewing controversy surrounding the $3.75 billion Fen-Phen Settlement Trust set up in 2001 to compensate victims of Fen-Phen - the diet drug Wyeth knowingly marketed and sold despite resounding evidence that it could cause serious heart and lung damage. John Bacon, a 57 year old salesman from Connecticut, entered into the Trust system nearly two years ago when he was diagnosed with Moderate Mitral Valve Regurgitation, an irreversible heart disease rarely found outside of Fen-Phen use. By entering the Trust agreement, Mr. Bacon gave up his individual right to sue Wyeth for damages. Mr. Bacon’s suit alleges that he complied with the Trust’s requests for additional documentation and medical information, and was advised that his claim would be paid approximately $450,000. After accepting the Trust’s offer of that settlement, Mr. Bacon later received a letter informing him that the Trust had conducted a further investigation of his claim and was denying his claim - even though there is no provision in the Trust agreement to allow the Trust to conduct repeated reviews of a claim. “The Trust made a promise to help Mr. Bacon and 100,000 other victims like him to rebuild his life, but it has turned into a bureaucratic brick wall,” said attorney Marc Jay Bern of Napoli Kaiser Bern & Associates, LLP in New York. New information in the lawsuit promises to reveal the extent to which Wyeth and others involved in negotiating the Settlement Agreement knowingly manipulated the projected numbers of victims to persuade the victims and the Court that the Settlement Agreement was fair and that the proposed funding for the Trust was adequate. When the real numbers of claims became apparent, Wyeth and the Trust accused plaintiffs’ attorneys and physicians of filing thousands of fraudulent claims, rather than examining the underlying reasons for the massive under-reporting of anticipated claims when the Settlement was being funded. Since 2001, only 3% of the 100,000 victims have received the help they were promised, and recent calculations show that Trust will go bankrupt before even ten percent of the Fen-Phen victims are helped. Attorneys for the victim claim that while Wyeth and the Trust delay and deny tens of thousands of diet drug victims, the Trust bureaucracy are making millions from a trust fund designed to compensate victims. “This is a tragedy on so many levels,” said Bern. “Mr. Bacon and thousands of other diet drug users have repeatedly been failed by the people who promised to help them. ” No trial date has been set. |