AHP Reportedly Settles 1st Fen-Phen Case

American Home Products Corp., the world’s seventh-largest drug maker, agreed to pay between $400,000 and $500,000 to settle the first lawsuit to go to trial spawned by its once-popular fen-phen diet drug combination, people familiar with the settlement said. A state court judge in Cleburne, Texas, told jurors hearing Sandra Moore’s suit against American Home that the case had been resolved, said Kent Clay, one of Moore’s lawyers. Clay said he couldn’t comment on it because of a confidentiality agreement. People familiar with the settlement said American Home has agreed to pay Moore to drop her suit alleging fen-phen damaged her heart valves. American Home officials were not immediately available to comment on the settlement. The suit, the first of more than 1,000 fen-phen claims to make it to a courtroom, has been closely watched by securities analysts and plaintiffs’ lawyers for clues about American Home’s financial exposure to fen-phen suits. Shares of Madison, N.J.-based American Home rose $1.50 to close at $69.25 on the NYSE.