![[Vic Terry, P.C.]](images/lovt.gif){kind=small}
Dallas, Texas USA
Specializing in helping people since 1961
THE DIET DRUG MERIDIA® LEGAL INFORMATION AND UPDATES
Brought to you by The Law Offices Of Vic Terry
IF
YOU OR A MEMBER OF YOUR FAMILY HAS TAKEN
THE DIET DRUG MERIDIA® AND
SUFFERED SERIOUS SIDE EFFECTS
YOU MAY HAVE A CLAIM AGAINST THE
MANUFACTURER
It is estimated that almost 9 Million people in 70 countries have used the diet drug MERIDIA® (sibutranine), which is manufactured by Abbott Laboratories. On March 19, 2002, Public Citizen petitioned the Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") to remove MERIDIA® from the market, claiming it is "unacceptably dangerous." According to the petition, there have been almost 400 serious adverse reactions reported to the FDA since Meridia was put on the market 1998. These serious reactions include close to 30 deaths, over 150 patients hospitalized and almost 150 patients with arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat). Of the almost 30 deaths, 19 died of cardiovascular causes including 10 people under the age of 50, three of whom were women under the age of 30.
The FDA estimates that approximately 20,000 Meridia prescriptions are filled in the United States each week. In 1997, before receiving FDA approval, an FDA advisory committee voted 5-4 that the benefits of Meridia did not outweigh its risks. The FDA medical officer who reviewed the drug wrote that Meridia® "has an unsatisfactory risk-benefit ratio and therefore this Reviewer recommends non-approval of the original submission." The concern of both the advisory committee and the FDA medical officer was based on evidence that Meridia® significantly increases blood pressure and heart rate in many people.
According to Public Citizen, when Meridia® was approved by the FDA, in November 1997, it stated that the average weight loss in obese people taking the drug for one year was only 6.5 pounds greater than the weight loss of those taking a placebo.
According to Abbott Laboratories there have been 34 deaths reported worldwide in patients using Meridia since the first clinical trials began: 28 in the United States, 2 in Italy, 2 in Britain, 1 in South Africa and 1 in Switzerland.
On March 8, 2002, the Italian Health Ministry suspended the sale of Meridia (a/k/a Reductil, Reduxade and Ectiva) following 50 reports of adverse events. According to British Department of Health, over 200 patients taking Meridia reported adverse reactions, including 2 deaths. In December 2001, Britain's Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin warned that Meridia had limited benefits and dangerous side effects. French drug regulators have also reported receiving almost 100 cases of side effects.
Adverse Side Effects that can be Caused by taking Meridia®:
Legal Background: Potential Claims and Damages
Claims filed by persons injured after ingesting prescription drugs with undisclosed dangerous side effects typically include claims for negligence, strict liability for failure to warn, strict liability for a defective product, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty and unjust enrichment. Damages sought against by injured patients or, in the case of the patient's death, the surviving spouse or family members include general and compensatory damages for:
We have represented hundreds of persons injured by dangerous prescription drugs, including hundreds of patients prescribed the diet drugs known as Fen-Phen, in federal and state courts across America. In the Fen-Phen lawsuits, the federal court hearing the case against American Home Products Corporation, the manufacturer of diet drugs Pondimin and Redux, approved a settlement valued at $4.75 billion. The settlement involves approximately six million U.S. consumers who used Pondimin and/or Redux, for any length of time, alone or in combination with phentermine.
Statutes of Limitation Notice
Persons seeking to preserve any potential legal claims for allegedly dangerous and/or defective medications should contact an experienced personal injury attorney immediately because all states have mandatory time periods within which lawsuits must be filed, called Statutes of Limitation. Your claims may be forever barred if you do not act within this pre-determined time frame. The Statute of Limitations in the State of Texas to file a personal injury claim is two years.
