Excerpted from Orange County Register, Friday, 2 May 2003.

'Fen-Phen' Users Say Records Held

The Medical Board of California received about 60 complaints this year from patients who say their doctors are withholding medical records that prove they were harmed by the diet drug mix "fen-phen."

Patients who have heart conditions as a result of taking the once-popular mix are eligible for compensation under a national settlement agreement. But they need medical records to prove their cases.

The deadline to submit some of the medical paperwork is Saturday, which has patients like Delores Hall, 53, of Costa Mesa, scrambling.

Hall said she received fen-phen from 1996 to 1997 from Dr. Kenneth LaCroix, but he hasn't responded to her requests for medical records. LaCroix's office phone has been disconnected, and he could not be reached for comment.

Excerpted from Orange County Register, Friday, 2 May 2003.