PPH NEWS is an education-based resource site that provides information on the health issues surrounding Primary Pulmonary Hypertension (PPH), including what it is, the symptoms, diagnoses, and treatment options.
This website also provides resource to learn more about your legal rights and remedies if you or someone you know has developed PPH due to the use of diet drugs such as Fen Phen.

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History of PPH

Primary Pulmonary Hypertension has been around for many years, although the causes and physiology of the disease are not well understood by the medical community. PPH first came to the world's attention during the 1970s due to a rash of cases in Europe. The medical community determined that the disease was linked to the use of the specific appetite suppressants/weight loss remedy known as Aminorex.

Primary Pulmonary Hypertension took a hiatus from the spotlight during the 1980s. However, during the 90s, the incidence of PPH shot back up in the United States with the release of the weight loss drugs fen-phen and Redux.

Fen-phen hit the U.S. market in 1995 with users reporting stunning results. As the American public flocked to this new weight loss drug, physicians and weight-loss centers adopted fen-phen as a safe and effective answer for many of their patient's weight problems. This new "miracle weight loss answer" was prescribed to a large spectrum of individuals, from the obese to those who were trying to shed 5 or 10 pounds. During its first year of mass marketing (1996) some six million Americans used the drug fen-phen to lose weight. It is estimated that more than 17 million prescriptions for fen-phen were written in 1996.

The fen-phen miracle cure came to an end when, in the summer of 1997, the Mayo Clinic released a study that stated that fen-phen caused serious side effects. Principal among these was heart valve defects and Primary Pulmonary Hypertension. In fact, the study showed that as many as one-third of the patients who used fen-phen diet pill had evidence of heart valve problems. Specifically, the drug caused defects in the aortic and mitral valves that resulted in blood being regurgitated into the ventricle and left atrium. The use of fen-phen was also found to increase the risk of developing PPH, especially when the usage lasts for more than three months. Studies found that treatment with certain appetite suppressant drugs increases the risk of developing PPH from 1 to 28 cases (per million persons treated in one year). This condition was potentially very serious, and cause for concern.

The many reports of harmful side effects attributed to fen-phen and Redux prompted the FDA to ask manufacturers such as American Home Products Corporation to withdraw these unsafe products from the market. There are many groups and individuals within the health care industry that believe that makers of these drugs were aware of the potential health complications while they were on the market. While recent advances in treatment options in PPH do provide some hope, it remains an incurable, debilitating disease.

If you or someone you know has PPH or heart valve disease, you're entitled to learn more about your legal rights.

Contact Us if you have sustained any deadly health complications such as primary pulmonary hypertension to collect your claims.

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