Law Offices of Arnold Laub
A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION
CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS * THE LAUB BUILDING
807 Montgomery Street * San Francisco, CA 94133
PRESS RELEASE
25-YEAR OLD WOMAN DIES AS A RESULT OF A BRAIN ANEURYSM SUFFERED WHILE
TAKING DIET DRUGS, FEN-PHEN.
THE LAW OFFICES OF ARNOLD LAUB and the law offices of LIEFF, CABRASER,
HEIMANN & BERNSTEIN, LLP announce an investigation into the new study of
brain damage caused by taking diet drugs. The law firms previously
filed a class action in San Francisco federal district court which named
as defendants the manufacturers of the prescription diet drugs known as
Fenfluramine (a.k.a. Pondimin), Phentermine (a.k.a. Fen-Phen), and
Dexfenfluramine (a.k.a. Redux). ARNOLD LAUB stated, "Our client,
MELANIE FRANKS, died from a brain aneurysm suffered while she was taking
the prescription diet drugs, Fenfluramine and Phentermine (aka,
Fen-Phen). A recent study from the National Institute of Mental Health
establishes that brain damage can occur as a result of taking a
fenfluramine drug. I am concerned that other individuals may not be
aware of the risk of brain damage inherent in taking the diet drugs".
As reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association last
week, the popular diet drugs, Redux and Pondimin are believed to have
caused brain damage in laboratory animals at doses roughly equivalent to
those taken by humans. The study's lead researcher, Dr. Una McCann
(NIMH) said, "The serotonin is gone in certain brain areas where you
would expect to find it...If the same thing occurs in people, it could
lead to behavior problems". She concluded that relatively small amounts
of the drugs "amputate the neurons" that store the neurotransmitter
Serotonin.
Fenfluramines affect serotonin levels in the brain, which play an
important role in mood, sleep patterns, regulation of anxiety and
thought processes. Some 50 million people worldwide take the drugs,
which suppress appetite evidently by altering the way the brain cells
release the neurotransmitter Serotonin.
This newest revelation, combined with the Mayo Clinic report (7/8/97),
which cites an unusual valvular heart disease in patients who had taken
a combination of Fen-Phen, as well as the documented sometimes fatal
disease of the heart and lungs, Primary Pulmonary Hypertension (PPH), is
sufficient evidence to alert the manufacturers to pull the drugs from
the market before more people suffer heart, lung and brain damage, or
even death. Although both of the drugs have been approved by the FDA
individually, their combination use has not been approved.
Bill Boni, spokesman for Interneuron Pharmaceuticals, the developer of
Redux, says this year's projected sales of $200 million are on target.
Doctors wrote an estimated 18 million monthly prescriptions for these
drugs in the United States last year alone.
The lawsuit requests as part of its prayer that there be a medical
monitoring fund established to enable those people who have taken these
diet supplement prescription drugs to monitor the existence of dangerous
side effects that may have been caused by the drugs.
We will hold a press conference at THE LAW OFFICES OF ARNOLD LAUB, The
Laub Building, 807 Montgomery St., San Francisco on Thursday, September
4th, 10:00 a.m. The mother of our deceased client, LANA CAPERTON, will
be available on a conference call from Texas to discuss this case in
more detail and answer any related questions. We hope you, or a member
of your staff, can attend.
Contact: ARNOLD LAUB (415) 362-0101, ext. 200
ROGER L. SISNEROS, ext. 295
ISABELLE V. RUSSELL, ext. 227
TEL:415/362-0101 * FAX:415/296-8841 * INTERNET: alaub@laub.com
SAN JOSE: 111 West Saint John, Suite 770, San Jose, CA 95113 * 408/297-5060 * FAX: 408/228-5191
WALNUT CREEK: 43 Panoramic Way, Walnut Creek, CA 94595 * 510/938-4400 * FAX: 510/947-0172