There are few more potent combinations than lawyers and journalists in the United States today. Together they can demonize, loot and even bankrupt the largest industry. And do so based on the flimsiest evidence. But the tide is turning, as evidenced by the decision of U.S. District Court Judge Louis Bechtle to bar junk testimony in the fen-phen diet-drug litigation.
Three years ago, studies linked the appetite suppressant fenfluramine to heart valve damage. Six million people had taken fenfluramine (or the related dexfenfluramine), often along with phentermine, a separate product which increases the calorie burn rate, creating a combination known as fen-phen. The Food and Drug Administration quickly ordered fenfluramine's withdrawal from the market.
Bad publicity followed, abetted by trial attorneys, who began running magazine and newspaper ads, hitting TV talk shows, creating Web sites, and organizing lawyer networks. As defense attorney David Bernick put it, the trial bar was "investing in litigation rather than pursuing it."