Fen-Phen victims share stories of their damaged
lives as a result of taking Fen-Phen:
To submit your story please email it to damagedlives@fen-phenvictims.com
Sabra Johnson
Willard, Missouri
“In 2002, I was diagnosed with Severe Mitral Valve Regurgitation and the fatal heart and lung disease, PPH. I had surgery the following year to replace my heart valve.
I now take six different medicines a day to keep me alive, and before any medical procedure I have to first be treated with antibiotics and stop my blood thinner for several days – risking a blood clot. This medication already gave me a Gastric bleed requiring four blood transfusions.
As a nurse, I used to travel to medical missions, bringing medical treatment and hope to impoverished communities across the world. I have had to put these trips, and all my dreams, on the shelf.
I am a grandmother, a mother and a daughter, and my life will be cut short because I took Fen-Phen.”
Karen Hogan
Shenandoah Junction, West Virginia
“In 1999 I was diagnosed with Mitral Valve regurgitation and an enlarged aorta after being prescribed Fen-Phen for 227 days to lose weight.
My latest echocardiogram shows that all four of my heart valves are enlarged, I have a pericardium infusion and an Atrial aneurysm.
By April 2003 my claim was ready to be paid, but one year later it looks like Wyeth will not keep its promise to help me rebuild my life. They have taken away my future with complete disregard for their actions.”
Kathy Sledd
Weston, Missouri
"I am a married mother of two beautiful children and grandmother of three.
I took Fen-Phen for 195 days in 1996 and 1997. I believed the drug to be safe, assuming it wouldn't be available to me otherwise. I later heard the drug was pulled from the market due to heart damage, but assumed the individuals with problems had not taken it correctly. I HAD taken it correctly and thought everything was OK.
I continued to think this drug was safe until one day in 2002 I visited my mother in the hospital and a nurse overheard me tell her that I had taken Fen-Phen. She told me she wished she could introduce me to a patient down the hall who was on a continuous medication and would leave the hospital only to go to a nursing home or die - all due to Fen-Phen.
I have since been diagnosed with a Level II Moderate Mitral Valve regurgitation with an enlarged left atrium. I never would have thought this could happen to me. I am so glad that I talked with this nurse and heard about the screenings taking place that year. Otherwise, even a visit to my dentist could have been deadly."
