January 31, 2004: Wyeth Estimates $21.1B Fen-Phen Litigation Costs Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer of “fn-phen” dietary drugs, namely Reduc and Pondium, increased its estimated costs of fen-phen litigation to $21.1 billion. It was reported at the new York Times that from the estimated litigation costs of $13.9 billion which have already been paid, there was a $7.2 billion are in reserved.

January 3, 2002: Fen-Phen Class Settlement received judicial approval A countrywide class action settlement agreement against the fen-phen received its judicial approval. The American Home Products Corporation, now known as Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, through its Diet Drug Settlement website, the settlement offers several benefits, including the refunds for the costs of Pondimin and Redux, monitoring of Pondimin and Redux patients for medical problems, medical procedur, and compensation for particular heart problems.

September 15, 1997: Fen-Phen Drugs Removed from the Market The US Food and Drug Administration have ordered the manufacturers of dexfluramine and fenfluramine to remove the drugs from the market voluntarily, where the companies did. The request for withdrawal came after the echocardiogram testing of fen-phen patients that suggested that fenfluramine and dexfenfluramine were seemingly the cause of the heart valve problems. With the withdrawal of the drugs, the FDA has recommended that the patients who were using either of the drugs should discontinue taking them and advised them to contact their doctors to discuss their medication.

July 8, 1997: FDA Warnings on Fen-Phen Links to Heart Valve Damage The US Food and Drug Administration issued an alert to healthcare providers on the possibility of the link between the use of fen-phen dietary drugs and heart valve damage. During a public health advisory, FDA explained that they received 33 reports of heart valve injury, known as “valvular disease,” in American women who received fen-phen medication for at least one month. FDA reports that there was about half of the 33 women were also found to have pulmonary hypertension.