STAMFORD, Conn., Dec. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Following a two month period within which all claims against Purdue Pharma L.P. in 16 lawsuits around the nation were dismissed, the company today announced that it no longer faces lawsuits in seven states where litigation previously had been pending. All of the cases had claimed personal injuries resulting from the use of OxyContin(R) (oxycodone HCL controlled-release) Tablets. Eleven of the 16 cases were dismissed with prejudice, meaning that the same claims cannot be brought against Purdue Pharma again. 65 OxyContin-related cases against Purdue have now been dismissed. In none of the cases has the company paid anything to the plaintiffs in settlement. No personal injury case involving OxyContin has ever been decided against the company.
“These results are significant,” said Howard R. Udell, Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer at Purdue Pharma. “Their breadth and scope vindicate our commitment to vigorously defending our company and our product when confronted with baseless legal claims. We sympathize with people who are struggling with substance abuse disorders and we sympathize with the loved ones who suffer with them. Nevertheless, the injuries claimed in these lawsuits were not caused by the proper medical use of OxyContin and these dismissals make that clear.
“Many of these cases were brought by top-flight law firms with national reputations. These lawyers worked hard to discover the facts they needed for their claims to succeed. But those facts aren’t there. Nothing Purdue Pharma did caused the injuries claimed and the lawsuits accordingly have been dismissed,” Udell continued.
“Settling meritless claims like these would be a betrayal of the patients for whom prescription medications are created. It would encourage the personal injury lawyers who do not expend the time and effort to look into their own clients’ cases to try to cash in on the misfortune of others.
“The term ‘frivolous lawsuit’ can be a real misnomer. So-called ‘frivolous lawsuits’ can cause real harm. Lawsuits involving pain medications can frighten pain patients from taking the medications appropriately prescribed for them by their healthcare professionals. And they can frighten the doctors from appropriately prescribing those medications. They can cause innocent people to choose pain over fear. We will not encourage this type of conduct by paying personal injury lawyers bringing absurd lawsuits to go away,” Udell concluded.
The dismissed cases follow what has become a typical pattern in the OxyContin litigation. Allegations of injuries caused by OxyContin fail when factual investigations reveal that the plaintiffs were not injured as they initially claimed or had developed substance abuse disorders well prior to their use of OxyContin.
“Abuse of prescription medications can cause real and lasting harm to individuals and families,” said Dr. Paul D. Goldenheim, Executive Vice President for Worldwide Research and Development and Chief Scientific Officer at Purdue Pharma. “That is why we are working closely with the healthcare community and law enforcement officials to keep these medicines out of the wrong hands while making sure they remain available to patients who really need them. We should not let personal injury lawyers dictate the practice of medicine.”
A survey recently released by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce demonstrated that lawsuits about prescription medications cause some patients to stop taking the medications prescribed for them by healthcare professionals. In a statement following the survey, Lisa A. Rickard, President of the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, which sponsored the survey, said: “Plaintiff lawyers’ addiction to lawsuits has changed the way doctors prescribe, pharmacists dispense and patients use medicine. A troublesome pattern is emerging -- with even the fear of litigation interfering with the way healthcare professionals practice medicine.”
“People who suffer from accident and disease are victimized twice when baseless lawsuits interfere with the legitimate and appropriate patient treatment,” Dr. Goldenheim added.
The following claims and lawsuits, organized by the states in which they were pending, are included in today’s announcement: Arizona: Bailey v. Purdue Pharma L.P., et al; California: Sheets v. Theresa Brechner, M. D., et al; Florida: Crown v. Eckerd Corp. of Florida, et al, Labzda v. Purdue Pharma L.P., et al; Georgia: Keyser v. Carlos Levy, M.D., et al; Hawaii: Kanekoa v. Purdue Pharma L.P., et al; Kentucky: Brown v. Purdue Pharma L.P., et al, Mathis v. Purdue Pharma L.P., et al; Louisiana: Arceneaux v. Purdue Pharma L.P., Fontenot v. Able Laboratories, Inc., et al, Strickland v. Purdue Pharma L.P., et al; Mississippi: McGee v. Purdue Pharma L.P., et al, Robertson v. Purdue Pharma L.P., et al, Summers v. Maurice McShan, M.D., et al; Texas: Garrett v. Purdue Pharma L.P., et al, Stiewart v. Purdue Pharma L.P., et al.
The professional product labeling for OxyContin(R) Tablets contains the following boxed warning:
WARNING: OxyContin is an opioid agonist and a Schedule II controlled substance with an abuse liability similar to morphine. Oxycodone can be abused in a manner similar to other opioid agonists, legal or illicit. This should be considered when prescribing or dispensing OxyContin in situations where the physician or pharmacist is concerned about an increased risk of misuse, abuse, or diversion. OxyContin Tablets are a controlled-release oral formulation of oxycodone hydrochloride indicated for the management of moderate to severe pain when a continuous, around-the-clock analgesic is needed for an extended period of time. OxyContin Tablets are NOT intended for use as a prn analgesic. OxyContin 80 mg and 160 mg Tablets ARE FOR USE IN OPIOID-TOLERANT PATIENTS ONLY. These tablet strengths may cause fatal respiratory depression when administered to patients not previously exposed to opioids. OxyContin TABLETS ARE TO BE SWALLOWED WHOLE AND ARE NOT TO BE BROKEN, CHEWED, OR CRUSHED. TAKING BROKEN, CHEWED, OR CRUSHED OxyContin TABLETS LEADS TO RAPID RELEASE AND ABSORPTION OF A POTENTIALLY FATAL DOSE OF OXYCODONE.
Full prescribing information for OxyContin is available at http://www.purduepharma.com/PRESSROOM/PI/OXYCONTIN_PI.PDF.
This and other recent announcements are available on the Purdue Pharma website at http://www.purduepharma.com/
Purdue Pharma
CONTACT: Tim Bannon of Purdue Pharma, +1-203-588-8450
Web site: http://www.purduepharma.com/
