Suit Filed Against Fen-Phen Makers In Class-Action Suit, Ex-Diet Drug Users Want Companies To Pay For Medical Monitoring

A class-action suit filed in Spokane wants the makers of fen-phen to pay for medical monitoring of former diet-drug users.

Spokane residents Fred St. John and Kathy Azzinnaro are the first patients named in the suit, filed this week in Superior Court.

Twelve firms that manufactured fen-phen, the popular name for a combination of prescription diet drugs pulled off the market in September, are named as defendants.

So far, neither St. John nor Azzinnaro claims to have suffered heart problems because of the drugs. But they want the court to order the manufacturers to pay for regular health testing, said their attorney, Robert Crotty of Spokane.

Until recently, diet medications that contained the chemicals dexfenfluramine and fenfluramine were only available through prescription.

The Food and Drug Administration urged millions of dieters to immediately stop taking the drugs after research linked them to serious heart damage.

The class-action suit is the first in Washington state on behalf of former fen-phen users, according to Crotty. Thousands more statewide could join the litigation.

“This stuff became a frenzy,” he said. “An awful lot of people were using it as a quick way to lose 20 pounds before going to a high school reunion.”

St. John, 58, said he used one of the diet drugs for most of the past 14 months. He said he quit last month on the recommendation of his doctor.

During the time he used the drug, St. John said his weight dropped from 300 to 200 pounds.

Azzinnaro, 44, a student at a local college, also used the diet pills, Crotty said.

“We’re asking the court to order a regular regimen of testing,” the attorney said. “The reason is that users of these substances have a substantially increased risk of cardio-valvular disease.”

Crotty also hopes the court will respond to the civil suit more quickly than it does to most other civil claims filed in Spokane County.

“This is critical stuff,” he said. “If you don’t start looking for the problem, it may be too late before you realize it’s there.”

None of the 12 pharmaceutical companies named in the suit is based in the Northwest. They include A.H. Robins Co. of Richmond, Va., and Geneva Pharmaceuticals of Denver.

Elizabeth Wheeler, a spokeswoman for Geneva Pharmaceuticals, said Friday the company has no official comment, since it hadn’t seen the suit.

Dozens of similar suits have already been filed in other states.

, DataTimes