A Los Angles jury found in favor of 56-year old Larry Hines, in Larry Hines v. Wyeth, and awarded the California man $115,000. Mr. Hines claimed he suffered heart valve damage after using the “fen phen” diet drug Pondimin, a drug once marketed by Wyeth.

The jury returned their verdict after six hours of deliberations, in which the plaintiff was awarded $115,000 in compensatory damages. The parties reached a settlement prior to the second phase.

The first phase sought to determine whether the plaintiff was injured as a result of using Pondimin, and if so the amount of damages. The second phase would have determined liability, however, both parties agreed to a monetary settlement, and have thereby ended the trail, Wyeth said in a press release.

Wyeth manufactured Pondimin before the drug’s removal from the market in 1997, when a Mayo Clinic report linked the drug to serious heart and lung damage.

Ellen Presby, a shareholder with the law firm Baron & Budd P.C., and Rick Nemeroff of the Nemeroff Law Firm represented Mr. Hines.

(via PR Newswire)