Recent Texas Fen-phen Case a Mistrial

By Hubert Vigilla

Published on February 02, 2006

Beverly "Kim" Tilmon of Palestine, Texas, filed the suit against Wyeth after taking the diet drug Pondimin (another name for fen-phen) for approximately four months in 1997. Tilmon's attorneys moved for a mistrial on Tuesday citing possible inflammatory comments made by Wyeth's attorneys concerning the evidence in the case. These comments, according to Tilmon's lawyers, could have possibly prejudiced the jury in the case. The trial has not been rescheduled.

On Monday, Tilmon's attorneys claimed that Wyeth knew the dangers of fen-phen yet hid the truth from the Food and Drug Administration in order to increase the company's bottom line. The attorneys representing Wyeth challenged those claims and stated the company provided warnings to doctors who prescribed the drug. Wyeth's attorneys also challenged the claim that Tilmon suffers from primary pulmonary hypertension.

In September of 1997, the FDA requested the withdrawal of fen-phen from the market following reports that the diet drug caused pulmonary hypertension and vascular heart disease, particularly in female patients.

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