Judge Resigns Amid Accusations He Profited From Fen-Phen Case

    (FRANKFORT, KY) -- A northern Kentucky judge has resigned rather than face removal for allegedly profiting from a $200 million settlement in a lawsuit involving the diet drug fen-phen.

    Judge Joseph F. Bamberger, a senior status special judge, was publicly reprimanded Monday by the Judicial Conduct Commission, which said his actions "shock the conscience."

    In a letter of reprimand, the commission said the judge gave attorneys, including one of his personal friends, somewhere between $86 million and $104 million from the settlement while 431 people injured by the diet drug split about $74 million.

    In addition, Bamberger allowed more than $20 million from the settlement to be put into a charitable fund administered by The Kentucky Fund for Healthy Living. The judge became a paid director of the charitable fund, receiving $5,000 a month, plus a $350 monthly expense allowance.

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