Deadline Expires This Year for Fen-Phen Class Action Members

Deadline Expires This Year for Fen-Phen Class Action Members’
Heart Disease Diagnosis or Surgery

DALLAS, TX — July 2011 —Petroff & Associates is trying to alert all members of the fen-phen class action settlement that their legal right to qualify for additional compensation is likely coming to a close by the end of this year, if not sooner.

Members of the fen-phen class action settlement can file for “progression benefits” if they experience one of the following situations before his/her individual deadline expires this year:
• Heart valve surgery
• Recommended heart valve surgery by a doctor, but surgery cannot be performed due to medical conditions
• Heart failure, heart arrhythmias, stroke or pulmonary hypertension that results in a person’s demise
• Residual problems caused by a stroke, lasting for a period of at least six months
• Blood clot causing kidney damage with dialysis, abdominal surgery or amputation of an arm or a leg
• Heart transplant
• Ventricular fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia
• Endocardial fibrosis
• Coma due to cardiac arrest
• Complications or worsening of the heart, lung or valve conditions following a valve surgery

Which class members are eligible for compensation?

There are three categories of class members within the class action settlement who are eligible to qualify for progression benefits and additional compensation:
• Surgery/ill patients - those who need heart valve surgery or have had valve surgery, or experienced any of the above conditions after taking fen-phen
• Surgery candidates - those who are candidates for valve surgery but may not know it
• Family - relatives/heirs of fen-phen victims who have died

How to file a claim?
First, individuals must determine if they – or a family member who has died – are included in the “Nationwide Class Action Settlement Agreement with American Home Products” and have a personal “Diet Drug Recipient Number.” Individuals may contact the Trust at 1-800-481-7947 or http://www.7thamendmentdietdrugs.com.

Class members must have registered with the AHP Settlement Trust by filing a "Blue" Form or a "Green" Form on or before May 3, 2003. Anyone who filed the necessary paperwork before the deadline in 2003 has the right to try to prove that they meet the criteria for additional compensation.

Second, they must determine whether they qualify for progression benefits. There is a questionnaire and additional information on the Petroff & Associates’ website that will help individuals determine whether they may qualify for progression benefits and a cash settlement.

Filing a claim is a complicated and confusing process. To file a claim, qualified class members must prove they took fen-phen and had an echocardiogram by the end of the screening period, Jan. 3, 2003, that showed at least mild leakage from the mitral or aortic heart valve.

While fen-phen class members must experience a qualifying event before the 2011 deadline to be eligible for a cash settlement, they can file a claim the later of November 8, 2014, or four years after the qualifying medical event occurs.

About Petroff & Associates
The law firm of Petroff & Associates is one of the most experienced law firms in the country regarding fen-phen litigation. Since 1997, the law firm has represented thousands of people nationwide against American Home Products Corp. for various types of injuries associated with the weight loss drugs fen-phen, Pondimin and Redux. The firm was founded and is led by Kip Petroff, who has written a book recounting his personal experiences with the on-going fen-phen litigation. Battling Goliath: Inside a $22 Billion Legal Scandal will be available fall 2011. Follow “Fen-Phen Deadline 2011” on Facebook at facebook.com/#!/fenphen2011 and on Twitter at twitter.com/#!/fenphen2011. For more information or to contact an attorney at Petroff & Associates, please visit petroffassociates.com.

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This alert is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be legal advice. Transmission is not intended to create and receipt does not establish an attorney-client relationship. For legal advice, consult an attorney. For more information about Petroff & Associates and our practice, please visit petroffassociates.com.

Petroff & Associates
3838 Oak Lawn Ave.
Suite 1620
Dallas, Texas 75219
(214) 526-5300

This release was published on openPR.