4-12-04 - A Pottsboro woman is hoping for restitution from the makers of Phen-Fen, nearly a decade after she took the diet drug and seven years after it was banned.

Susie Jones is still feeling the side affects of the drug. She says she suffers from congestive heart failure and lungs that constantly fill with fluid. Doctors point to the drug as the cause of her problems, but a class action lawsuit settlement from two years ago doesn’t recognize Susie like she’d hoped. She’s listed as a Level 2 by the trust, with Level 5 being those with the most health problems.

But a judge has frozen any settlement payments to Level 1 & 2 patients for the time being. Depending on that judge’s final decision, Jones will decide whether to join another class action lawsuit against the makers of the drugs.

The deadline to join that lawsuit is May 3rd. So far, 400 people in Oklahoma have filed while more than 1,000 have filed in Texas.

Jones has only been paid $150 from the original settlement.