Settlement Trust refunds diet drug costs

The Trust has been established by order of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to administer the Claims and payments of benefits to class members who have registered under the Nationwide Class Action Settlement Agreement with American Home Products Corporation (the "Settlement Agreement") dated November 18, 1999, as amended.

The Settlement Agreement provides for a variety of benefits, including refunds for the costs of Pondimin and Redux, medical monitoring and some medical treatment or payment for monitoring and treatment, and compensation for specifically defined valvular heart conditions that are evaluated on a scientifically established matrix.

Final judicial approval

Final judicial approval meant that certain new procedures took place under the Settlement Agreement. People who had filed BLUE Forms prior to January 3, 2002, could not be paid until Final Judicial Approval. The Trust is now processing their Claims. People who were eligible for benefits but had not registered were required to file completed and signed BLUE Forms postmarked no later than May 3, 2003, if they wish to receive benefits under the Settlement Agreement.

Benefits under the Settlement Agreement:

• Diet Drug Prescription Refunds
• Echocardiography Screening
• Cash/Medical Services
• Matrix Compensation

In order to pay benefits to Class Members as quickly as possible, the Trust calculates and pays out each of the above benefits separately. Benefits are calculated separately because the Trust needs less information to calculate some benefits than it does for others. For example, a Claimant might have submitted Diet Drug prescription records with a claim, but not an echocardiogram report or tape. In this case, the Diet Drug Prescription Refund could be paid, but the Trust may need more information to pay the other benefits.

Because the Trust pays benefits separately, Claimants who are entitled to more than one benefit will get more than one check from the Trust. These checks generally come at different times, depending upon when the Trust has enough information to calculate the individual benefits.

By cashing a check for any one of the benefits, Claimants do not waive rights to other benefits under the Settlement Agreement, but may lose their right to opt out of the settlement.

Source: RefillPill.com Editors' Choice