Kentucky

Judge "embarrassed" at handling of fen-phen case

The judge who approved a $200 million class-action settlement in a fen-phen diet drug lawsuit testified he was embarrassed by the way he handled the case.

Retired Circuit Court Judge Joseph "Jay" Bamberger was on the stand in U.S. District Court in Covington on Wednesday in the fraud trial of three Lexington attorneys.

"I'm embarrassed," Bamberger testified. Bamberger told the court he had not presided over a class-action lawsuit before and depended on the advice of the defendants and Cincinnati class-action attorney Stan Chesley.

Lawyers Shirley Cunningham Jr., William Gallion and Melbourne Mills Jr. are being tried on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

They're accused of keeping $45 million dollars that should have gone to plaintiffs they represented and putting another $20 million into a charity that they were paid to administer.