Plaintiffs rush to beat a deadline to claim health damages from the drugmaker's fen-phen diet formulation.
By WILLIAM R. LEVESQUE
Published May 1, 2004
The last wave of litigation over the diet drugs "fen-phen" is hitting courts around Tampa Bay and the nation as lawyers race to beat Monday's deadline to sue pharmaceutical giant Wyeth.
So far in 2004, nearly 90 product liability lawsuits against Wyeth Corp. have been filed in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court and perhaps twice as many in Hillsborough, lawyers estimate.
The suits are a vestige of the 1999 class-action settlement of more than $3-billion for the thousands of people who alleged their health was harmed by the drugs, which were pulled of the market in 1997.
About 90,000 people have opted out of that settlement after tests showed the delayed effects of potential heart damage thought to be caused by fen-phen.
Not everyone will file suit, lawyers say, though the number of suits nationally is expected to number in the thousands.
Many lawyers hope Wyeth will settle most of the suits. That has been the company's history with previous opt-out lawsuits. The New Jersey company has already paid nearly $17-billion in litigation and settlement costs since fen-phen was recalled.
After 45,000 people opted out of the settlement several years ago in the first chance to do so, Wyeth settled with them for $12-billion.
"They say they are going to try them all," said Pinellas Park lawyer Joe Saunders, whose firm has filed about 20 lawsuits. "I don't know whether that's tough talk or they're actually planning to do it."
One reason so many people have opted out of the class-action settlement is that the fund set up to pay claims is running out of money, and some fear they won't see a dime unless they sue, Saunders said.
Robert Essner, Wyeth's chairman, president and chief executive, told shareholders at the company's annual meeting last month that Wyeth planned a vigorous defense for these latest suits.
"We remain committed to defending our company vigorously, rooting out fraud and abuse in litigation and ensuring valid claims in the settlement are handled appropriately," Essner told investors.
On Friday, Wyeth spokesman Doug Petkus said the company planned to fight claims it thinks are unfounded or in which plaintiffs seek damages in excess of what their conditions warrant.
"We're committed to fair and equitable compensation to legitimate claimants," Petkus said.
But Tuesday, a jury in Beaumont, Texas, awarded $1-billion in damages to the family of a woman who died of a lung disease the family's lawyers say was caused by the company's diet medication.
The award included $900-million in punitive damages, a figure that is widely expected to be cut by the judge or appeals courts.
While the award is related to a lawsuit filed earlier, and is not part of the latest wave of litigation, some lawyers and analysts think it might spur Wyeth to settle other suits rather than risk trial.
"They just can't keep taking these kinds of hits," said Tampa lawyer Scott Charlton, whose firm has filed 65 suits. "Those kinds of hits hurt their stock price. And when that happens, they'll start to settle."
Fen-phen became wildly popular in the mid 1990s, after doctors discovered that combining fenfluramine with phentermine helped people lose weight.
