What Is Fen-Phen?

There has been a lot of confusion floating around about a drug called fen-phen and how the drug caused an influx of PPH disorders in otherwise healthy folks.

The sad fact is that fen-phen did indeed harm a number people and numerous fen-phen attorneys and fen-phen lawyers took up the cause, soon specializing in such suits and aiding countless groups of people in getting the financial compensation they required.

Even so, many people wonder just what fen-phen is.

First, lets talk about fen-phen symptoms as they relate to something called PPH.

PPH, or Primary Pulmonary Hypertension, is a serious, sometime fatal condition that can lead to heart failure. Fen-phen symptoms start mildly, with general fatigue, swelling in the feet ankles, hands, legs or face, racing heart and/or pulse and the propensity for fainting spells.

As time wears on, these fen-phen symptoms worsen, producing an incapacitating exhaustion that can leave the victim bed ridden. Without treatment, PPH can potentially develop into heart failure, which is life threatening.

Manufactured by Interneuron Pharmaceuticals, Fen-phen initially consisted of two drugs, fenfluramine, and phentermine fenfluramine. The drug dexenfluramine, commonly known as Redux, is a serotoninergic anorectic drug, which was added much later.

These drugs, which were supposed to treat obesity, became something of a deadly cocktail, creating rare forms of heart disease and pulmonary hypertension by adversely affecting the valvular walls.

In 1997, the FDA removed the drug from the market upon learning that 30 percent of otherwise healthy patients, who had been taking the drug, had abnormal echocardiograms, and these cases were growing at an alarming rate.

Product liability lawsuits ensued, costing manufacturer, Interneuron Pharmaceuticals and their distributor, Wyeth, $14 billion dollars to date.

If you took fen-phen and have fen-phen symptoms, see a physician who is familiar with such cases immediately. A competent doctor can ferret out the cause of your issues, culminating in a fen-phen diagnosis that will strengthen your case.

A fen-phen attorney is then crucial to attain, as they can help you get monetary payment for medical expenses incurred by the illness, as well as document the development of fen-phen symptoms, and their progression after taking fen-phen.

If a fen-phen diagnosis and subsequent, crippling fen-phen symptoms, have taken your life hostage, get it back by obtaining a fen-phen lawyer, who will help you recover compensation quickly, giving you the money you need to function financially and emotionally, once again.

About The Author-- Nick Johnson is lead counsel with Johnson Law Group. Johnson represents plaintiffs in many states and focuses on injury cases involving Fen-Phen and PPH, Paxil, Mesothelioma, maritime injury, and Nursing Home Abuse. Call Nick Johnson at 1-888-311-5522 or visit http://www.johnsonlawgroup.com

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