<p>An Atlanta jury ruled Wednesday drug maker Wyeth was not responsible for health problems alleged by a woman who used one of the companys diet drugs, part of the banned fen-phen combination. Wyeths stock price jumped more than 8 percent on the news.</p><p>A Superior Court jury in Fulton County returned a unanimous verdict in Wyeths favor in a case brought by Linda Eichmiller, who had alleged that taking the diet drug Pondimin injured her heart valves.</p><p>We proved that there was insufficient information to suggest an association between diet drugs and valvular heart disease when the plaintiff began using the product, said Peter Bleakley, an attorney representing Madison, N.J.-based Wyeth. We clearly showed that the plaintiffs medical condition was caused by a number of factors and could not be narrowed to her use of the diet drug Pondimin.</p><p>The decision comes two weeks after a Texas jury awarded $1.3 million in damages to a woman who suffered heart damage after taking a Wyeth diet drug.</p><p>Eichmiller, a registered nurse, said she was disappointed by the decision, but she doesnt know yet whether she will appeal.</p><p>I havent thought that far ahead, Eichmiller, 53, of Duluth, Ga., said in a telephone interview. I was hoping for them to make sure my medical care was provided since their medication caused it and I wasnt expecting them to give the entire case to the defense. Im just a little shocked.</p><p>She said she still has the important things in life, her health and her family. But she said the drug company should have behaved more responsibly.</p><p>They didnt put a warning in the physicians desk reference until a year after I stopped taking it, and they didnt take it off the market until the FDA made them in 1998, which is two years after I stopped taking it.</p><p>Wyeth, formerly known as American Home Products, made Pondimin, the fenfluramine half of fen-phen, and a chemical cousin, Redux. Both drugs were withdrawn from the market in September 1997 after reports that in some patients they had caused heart-valve damage and dangerously high pressure in lung blood vessels.</p><p>About 6 million people had taken the drugs by then. No problems were linked to phentermine, the other drug in the combination.</p><p>About 70,000 people have opted out of a $3.75 billion trust fund the company set out for injured fen-phen patients, and Wyeth has set aside a total of $16.6 billion to cover jury awards, settlements and legal costs.</p><p>Some analysts have questioned whether that reserve will be enough to cover all Wyeths costs to put the fen-phen debacle behind it.</p><p>The company, which makes the arthritis drug Enbrel, depression drugs Ativan and Effexor, hormone replacement drugs and a number of vaccines, is going through a rough patch.</p><p>Its highly touted nasal spray influenza vaccine, FluMist, has had disappointing sales since it was launched this fall.</p><p>Also, Wyeths revenues and stock price have suffered since a huge federal study in July 2002 found its hormone replacement drug Prempro increased risk of heart attack, stroke, dangerous blood clots and breast cancer. Doctors had long believed the drug protected women from such age-related conditions.</p><p>In afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Wyeth shares rose $3.12 to $40.87.</p><p>___</p><p>AP Business Writer Harry R. Weber in Atlanta contributed to this report.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x2864920)</p>
