Wyeth has prevailed in a Texas lawsuit brought by a woman who claimed that the company’s Pondimin weight loss drug had caused her to suffer heart valve injury.

This is the second victory for Wyeth in a Pondmin (fenfluramine) liability trial in as many weeks. On February 24 the firm announced an earlier case in Philadelphia involving two women had also gone in its favour.

Pondimin and the follow-up drug, Redux (dexfenfluramine), were withdrawn from the market in 1997, triggering a lengthy legal process for Wyeth and forcing it to place almost $17 billion into its legal reserves to settle claims.

The firm reached a national settlement in 1999, entitling patients to compensation, but said that the ability to provide compensation to legitimate claimants had been compromised by an avalanche of questionable claims.

Last month, reports surfaced that the US Food and Drug Administration is planning to announce a proposed rule which would protect the pharmaceutical industry from liability litigation, by declaring that federally-approved drug labels pre-empt US state laws.