Interneuron Agrees to Settle Fen-Phen Suits

Interneuron Pharmaceuticals Inc. agreed to pay $70 million to settle all claims against it by people who took the anti-obesity drug Redux, raising the stakes for the largest defendant in the suits about the “fen-phen” drug combination, American Home Products Corp. If approved by U.S. District Judge Louis Bechtle in Philadelphia, the agreement would forbid people who blame the drug for injuries or death from opting out of the settlement and continuing to sue. Stock in Lexington, Mass.-based Interneuron, which manufactured the dexfenfluramine product Redux for American Home, has plummeted to $2.69 on Nasdaq from more than $18. More than a thousand lawsuits have been filed against the companies, accusing them of ignoring evidence that the fen-phen combination caused heart valve disease and pulmonary hypertension.