Section A · Page 6
The University Daily Kansan
Monday, March 9,1998
Dieters ignore, respect drug recalls
Continued from page 1A
"The fen-phen didn't need to be approved because it was already on the market," Smith said. "It was the choice of the physicians to decide whether to use the combination."
Redux, a separate diet drug, had been on the market in Europe since 1985 and received FDA approval for long-term use for weight loss in April 1996. It is simply the active portion of fenfluramine, part of the fen-phen combination.
Smith said approximately 60 of his patients took the appetite suppressants fen-phen, Redux, or a combination of Redux and phentermine during a four-year period. Of those,
"According to the FDA, 30 percent of the people who were on fen-phen may have a heart valve abnormality," Smith said. "So obviously, we're concerned."
about 80 patients have had echocar diograms to determine the condition of their hearts.
we're not seeing anything close to what the FDA said the incidence is," Smith said. Of those who have been tested, only 5 percent of the weight loss clinic patients show heart valve abnormalities.
Smith began prescribing fen-phen at the Med Center in 1994, two years after it gained popularity.
Because diet medications require physician monitoring, his patients came to see him once a month. The initial visit cost $124, and follow-up appointments were $50 each.
The Med Center's weight management clinic is a moneymaker, Smith said, "But it's not a big moneymaker because I don't run it that way."
Allie Stuckey, 22, a respiratory therapy student at the Med Center, first heard about fen-phen and Redux from a family friend two years ago when she was a student at the University of Kansas. At the time, Stuckey, who is 5 feet 2 inches tall, weighed 145 pounds. She wanted to lose from 20 to 25 pounds.
waited at 10:35. "I had done all the diets," Stuckey said. "The fad diets and even the soup diet. Nothing really seemed to work for me."
She contacted her family physician, who referred her to the weight management clinic at the Med Center. Smith put her on a combination of phentermine and Redux. Stuckey lost 20
"People are looking for a magic bullet when it comes to weight loss. I know I was. But fen-phen and redux were not the magic bullets I was looking for. If it takes getting out and taking the dog for longer walks and walking to work, I will"
pounds in one year.
When the FDA pulled Redux off the market, Stuckey continued taking the phentermine, which is not associated with heart valve damage or pulmonary hypertension.
Smith said that the heart valve damage probably was not noted earlier in national studies because a majority of afflicted patients didn't show any symptoms.
"Now any one more commonly involved, the aortic valve, is one where, as a physician, you can't hear the murmur," Smith said.
Van Buckley Former Redux diet drug patient
Patients who have valvular heart disease may notice shortness of breath, but most likely won't notice any changes at all," Smith said. "So, you have a disease that has no symptoms, and you have a disease where clinically, physicians can't detect it."
Because anyone with an abnormal heart murmur is at risk to develop infection on the valve, Smith recommends that all former fen-phen and Redux users take preventive
antibiotics before undergoing dental work or invasive medical procedures. Smith also encourages his patients to get echocardiograms to see if they have heart valve damage, as the FDA has recommended.
"I don't regret taking the Redux." Stuckey said. "There are risks in every medication you take."
Stuckey, who has maintained her weight at 125 pounds, said she didn't have $700 to spend on an echocardiogram. Instead, she continues her monthly follow-up appointments with Smith at the Med Center.
Stuckey said she was glad that Redux had been taken off the market. "It's not safe to have something out there that can damage your heart," she said. Then she added quietly, "But obesity is hard on the heart, too."
Profits from losses?
There's a buzz in J. Scott Bertram's law office across town from the Med Center. Secretaries are taking calls, the fax machines are humming, the words "fen-phen" and "Redux" seem to bounce around the office like pingpong ball
to bounce at start of the month. A月 after fen-phen and Redux were plucked from the market, Bertram began running an eye-catching advertisement in the Kansas City Star which read: "Fen-phen and Redux users may want to consult a lawyer in addition to a doctor." The message was plain and simple: "You may have a claim for monetary damages for harm done to you."
moltely damages or harms Clients may walk into Bertram's office wearing slightly sad expressions, but they leave looking a little more hopeful. /
"We feel very good about these cases," Bertram said, sitting behind a conference table in his Kansas City, Mo., law office. "I feel that the liability against the drug companies appears to be very strong."
One of the primary targets in the class-action arena is American Home Products Corp., Bertram said. American Home Products Corp. manufactures Redux and fenfluramine
appears to be very strong. One of the primary targets in the class-
Kansas City, Mo., resident Deborah Brown, 54. contacted Bertram after an echocardiogram showed she had valvular heart disease.
Brown is one of nearly 300 former fen-phen and Redux users who responded to Bertram's advertisement.
Of those who contacted him, Bertram said he had accepted more than 30 clients who had confirmed heart valve damage and three who had confirmed primary pulmonary hypertension.
Just how significant might Bertram's advertised "claim for monetary damages," be? That, he said, has yet to be determined.
REDUX
he neged on saying what his chances of winning were, but he did say of his fen-phen and
Redux clients: "These people represent some of the nicest people I've talked to in my entire life
the nicest people I've talked to is "The common thread in any lawsuit is, will the jury like your client? I believe that the drug companies will take into consideration the fact that they have to face a plaintiff who is going to be seen in a sympathetic light by almost all jurors," Bertram said.
Kansas City, Kan., attorney Thomas Sutherland of the Holbrook, Heaven and Osborn law firm, has defended medical malpractice cases since 1986. As of last week, Sutherland said he had not heard much about upcoming fen-phen and Redux lawsuits but said he did not think physicians like Smith would be the primary targets.
"I think that's probably going to be more of a product liability case than it is of medical malpractice." Sutherland said. "There's certainly
going to be some issues in the physicians, but think they will be more with product availability.
No magic bullet
But dieters haven't given up. In the wake of the fen-phen and Redux recall, a new anti-obesity drug. Meridia, received FDA approval last month. The drug company ads already are running in the newspapers.
"Meridia hit the market yesterday, and I'm getting a flood of phone calls," Smith said. Smith said new patients, as well as former fen-phen and Redux patients, are starting to take Meridia.
But not all former fen-phen and Redux users are as enthusiastic.
Med Center media coordinator Buckley, who lost 40 pounds on the Redux-phentermine combination prescribed by Smith, stopped refilling his prescriptions when the FDA recalled Redux in September. By December, he had regained 30 pounds.
pounds. But one thing Buckley said he learned from Smith through his diet-clinic experience was the importance of counting fat grams and in making long-term lifestyle changes.
"People are looking for a magic bullet when it comes to weight loss. I know I was," Buckley said. "But fen-phen and Redux were not the magic bullets I was hoping for."
Buckley said he planned to change the way he lived, rather than rely on medications: "If it takes getting out and taking the dog for longer walks and walking to work, I will."
MAKE A HEALTHY CHOICE
Prepare for or Enhance Your Career in Allied Health or Nursing at Kansas Newman College
Nursing Day Friday March 6
PROGRAMS AVAILABLE;
Cytotechnology Health Care Administration Medical Technology Nuclear Medicine Technology
Nursing (BSN and RN/BSN-Completion)
Occupational Therapy
Radiologic Technology
Respiratory Care
Allied Health Day April 3 1-800-736-7585
Quality programs, one-on-one attention, scholarships, friendly atmosphere and diversity - that's what transfer students at Kansas Newman are finding as they prepare for careers or pursue career advancement in the health-care industry. We'd venture a guess that you are looking for these same benefits as you think about finishing your degree.
At Kansas Newman you can complete an allied health or nursing degree or choose from 40 other high-quality, fully accredited degree programs.
ext.295
Plan to attend our Nursing Day on Friday, March 6, or the Allied Health and Nursing Day on Friday, April 3, where you can experience first-hand what a Kansas Newman degree can do for you. Call our admissions office now at 1-800-736-7585, ext.295, for information about these events or to learn about summer and fall enrollment. Financial aid and scholarships are available.
NEWMAN KANSAS NEWMAN COLLEGE
3100 McCormick Avenue • Wichita, KS 67213-2097 • (316) 942-4291, ext. 295 • www.ksnewman.edu
Kansas Newman is a Catholic, liberal arts college which through its educational programs empowers students to transform society by permeating it with Christian values. Kansas Newman College does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, creed, handicap, national or ethnic origin. Accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools • 30 N. LaSalle St., Ste. 2400, Chicago, IL. 60602-2504 • 1-800-621-7440