FindLaw | Legal News & Information

Fen-Phen User Wins $75K Jury Award

A federal court jury in St. Louis has awarded $75,000 to a woman who sued Wyeth on claims that the diet drug combination fen-phen damaged her heart valves.

The jury capped an eight-day proceeding before U.S. District Judge Richard Webber by returning the verdict for plaintiff Virginia Cavender after just under seven hours of deliberation.

Cavender prevailed on her claims of failure to warn and breach of implied warranty. She said she used Wyeth's Pondimin (fenfluramine) and the generic phentermine for two months in 1996 to help her lose weight.

Fenfluramine and dexfenfluramine, which was sold under the brand name Redux when Wyeth was known as American Home Products Corp., were pulled from the market in 1997 due to mounting evidence that they caused heart valve damage.

Cavender sued the company in Missouri state court, but New Jersey-based Wyeth soon removed the case to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, citing diversity jurisdiction.

When Cavender's lawyers rested their case five days into the trial, Wyeth successfully moved for judgment as a matter of law dismissing her claims for negligent failure to test and breach of express warranty.

The company said that while Cavender accused it of negligently failing to test Pondimin, the evidence she presented on the claim at trial did not "create a submissible case."

It said her breach-of-warranty claim also failed because Cavender had not provided trial testimony "regarding any statement, written or oral, that she received from Wyeth regarding Pondimin."

Judge Webber also granted Wyeth's motion for judgment on Cavender's design-defect claim because she had failed to prove the existence of any defect in Pondimin.

However, the judge denied Wyeth's motions to dismiss Cavender's failure-to-warn and implied-warranty claims. The company had argued that the expert testimony Cavender presented did not support the claims.

Wyeth issued a brief media statement after the verdict, saying it was "reviewing its post-trial options" in the case.

To comment, ask questions or contribute articles, contact West.Andrews.Editor@Thomson.com.