The verdict came at the close of the first phase, the damages phase, of this bifurcated (two-phase) trial. This ruling completes the litigation associated with the two cases.
The trial began on February 15, with the plaintiffs alleging heart valve injury from the use of the diet drugs Pondimin and Redux, drugs once marketed by Wyeth before being withdrawn from the market in September 1997.
This news will bring extra relief to Wyeth, which has already recorded suffering a loss in its 2004 fourth quarter, due in part to costs relating to the diet drug litigation. Indeed, total charges for the ‘fen-phen’ proceedings have exceeded $21 billion since the drugs’ withdrawal from the market over seven years ago.