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Currently, Trust payouts are on a two-month hold until July 5, 2004 while the details of an amendment to the Fen-Phen Trust – labeled the 7th Amendment – are worked out. Once the details of this amendment are final, notice will be sent out to Fen-Phen victims who will then have the opportunity to voice their opinion about this measure before a judge decides to approve or reject the amendment.
This amendment would allow victims with Level I and II heart damage to receive a reduced settlement in the short term, and still retain the right to file future claims should their level of heart damage worsen.
Wyeth has agreed to fund this new class of Trust members with an additional Trust deposit of $1.275 billion, keeping intact the more than $3.75 billion already paid by Wyeth for long-term help for victims with the most severe damage (Level III-V). For more information, click here.
In late May, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia granted the introduction of previously inadmissible evidence in cases involving heart valve damage from Fen-Phen.
Evidence now admissible in future court cases includes:
• Internal Wyeth documents detailing the drug’s dangers, written while the company failed to warn the public or the FDA about these findings
•Testimony from high-level Wyeth executives about destroying documents to avoid warning labels
Information about deadly PPH is now permissible in heart valve cases.
By removing the evidentiary restrictions, future jurors can now see the full story surrounding the length of time - and the extent to which - Wyeth knew about the serious dangers of a drug it actively marketed and sold as safe.
This evidence shows, in shocking detail, the lengths this corporation went through to place corporate profits over the health of the American public.
To download a pdf of the 3rd Circuit Opinion, click here.
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