Thursday November 23, 5:03 pm Eastern Time
Canadian class action to proceed against Biofarma
(UPDATE: All figures in U.S. dollars unless noted.)

By Ian Karleff

TORONTO, Nov 23 (Reuters) - An Ontario court has ruled a class-action lawsuit can proceed against French drug maker Biofarma SA to hear allegations on behalf of thousands of Canadians saying the firm's diet pills led to fatal lung and heart disease.

Plaintiffs claim that Biofarma's weight-loss pills Ponderal and Redux, distributed by co-defendant Servier Canada Inc., have been linked in medical literature to primary pulmonary hypertension, a heart condition that can result in death.

Vincent Genova and Paul Rochon, lawyers acting on behalf of the lead plaintiff, Sheila Wilson -- a 63 year old woman who claims to be ill after taking Ponderal -- said on Thursday they are ``seeking fair compensation for all the victims'' although it is too early to put an exact dollar figure on the claim.

Judge Susan Lang at the Ontario Court of Justice struck down Biofarma's appeal earlier this week to have the class action thrown out of court.

Lang's decision came on the heels of a Sept. 13 decision by Judge Peter Cumming saying that the companies were potentially liable for millions of dollars in medical costs to cover screening and treatment of the disorders allegedly introduced by the diet pills.

The lawsuit follows a $4.5 billion personal injury settlement last November paid by American Home Products Corp. (NYSE:AHP - news) that primarily addressed medical costs sustained by patients taking similar weight loss pills in the U.S. Although these pills were branded under the name Pondimin, they contained the same active ingredient, fenfluramine.

``The U.S. decision is helpful, but not binding. By comparing populations of U.S. and Canada we are talking about a large case, plus we are adding the injury component,'' Rochon told Reuters.

At least 1.4 million prescriptions for the drugs, known by their generic names fenfluramine and dexfenfluramine, were issued by Canadian doctors.

And it is known that more than 155,000 people used Pondera before health concerns in the U.S. over Pondimin resulted in Ponderal and Redux being pulled from pharmacy shelves in September 1997.

Rochon said that although the U.S. settlement primarily sought compensation for medical monitoring expenses, the Canadian claim seeks compensation for the province of Ontario's medical costs under Canada's public health-care system, and for personal injury for the alleged victims.

``This is the first time that there is a national class action (in Canada) where medical monitoring and screening has been allowed to proceed to trial,'' said Rochon.

As part of the Ontario court decision to allow the class action to go ahead, the plaintiff's lawyers were told to inform the public so that other alleged victims could join the legal challenge.

($1 equals $1.54 Canadian)

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