PAH Lawsuit

Primary Artery Hypertension (PAH) Lawsuit

Primary Artery Hypertension (PAH) is an unusual lung disorder for which the primary symptom is high blood pressure in the primary pulmonary artery, the critical and major blood vessel that sends blood into the pulmonary system to retrieve oxygen. PAH is also known as Primary Pulmonary Hypertension, or PPH. Both terms differentiate from Secondary Pulmonary Hypertension (SPH) which is high blood pressure in the same location but from a diagnosed cause such as emphysema.

There is no apparent cause for PAH, which makes it so hard to diagnose. Physicians have to run through all the possible causes for SPH before that can look at the possibility of PAH. However there is a strong association between PAH and former use of the diet drug fen-phen. This medication was removed from the marketplace in 1997 by the FDA due to the fact that there was an established connection between its use and the development of valvular heat disease in some patients, principally in the mitral valve.

Now, PAH is developing in patients that had a history with fen-phen. Medical researchers are of the belief that fen-phen’s role as a catalyst for PAH may have a latency period of ten years or more. For that reason people who are developing this serious pulmonary disorder with no apparent cause are urged to immediately inform their doctor if they have a history of fen-phen use dating back to the 1990s. Some who had mitral valve repairs or replacements due to fen-phen may also be once again developing symptoms from a delayed or latent effect of the drug.

In either case, people who are having lingering heart and pulmonary problems because of previous fen-phen use are urged to contact an attorney, as there is a large number of liability cases that were tried over the damages this drug has caused and there may be a new wave of fen-phen cases in the near future.