Sign In
Upcoming Event
Free Newsletter
Many Faked Fen-Phen Diagnosis, Says Lawyer
NJBIZ STAFF//August 9, 2005//
Listen to this articleAuditors reviewing the medical records of people slated to receive a share of the $3.75 billion trust fund for people injured by the fen-phen diet drug combination have found “a huge number” that may not have suffered heart-valve damage as claimed and shouldn’t be paid, the Associated Press said in a report, citing an attorney for the trust.”A huge number were problematic,” Richard L. Scheff, an attorney for the Philadelphia-based trust handling the distribution of the settlement, told the news agency.The trust fund was set up by Madison’s Wyeth (NYSE: WYE), formerly American Home Products, to resolve claims related to the fen-phen diet drugs Pondimin and Redux before they were pulled from the market in 1997. More than 100,000 people have filed the paperwork and echocardiograms that presumably demonstrate their entitlement to a portion of the settlement fund.But payments to hundreds have been tossed out since last fall, when a federal judge, bothered by sample audits that found a high percentage of unjustified claims, ordered a total review.Under the original terms of the settlement, the trust largely left the work of determining who had been hurt by the drugs to cardiologists hired by the law firms, and only 15% of the claims submitted were audited. The rest were to be paid without question or review.”The assumption was that everyone would be honest,” Scheff told the Associated Press. “Now, every claim must go through the audit process.” At the close of trading, shares of Wyeth, which has already paid more than $13 billion in claims related to the drugs, were up $0.64 to $46.65.
