$5.5 Million for Death From Pain Patch
“In the first federal pain patch trial, a Florida jury awarded $5.5 million to the father of a 28-year-old man who died at his computer while wearing a Duragesic patch. It was the second victory in as many tries for the plaintiffs' bar, with a $772,000 win in Texas state court last summer. (See ‘Leaky pain patch yields $772,000 verdict,’ Lawyers USA, Aug. 14, 2006. Search terms for Lawyers USA Archives: White and Duragesic.) Although the jury declined to award punitive damages, the verdict bodes well for future patch cases, said Dallas attorney Jim Orr, who tried the federal case. More than 50 wrongful death suits have already been filed. Duragesic pain patches, manufactured by Alza Corp. and Janssen Pharmaceutica, subsidiaries of Johnson & Johnson, have faced regulatory scrutiny and litigation since February 2004, when a recall was issued because of patch leaks. The recall was expanded later that year to more than 2 million patches, and the FDA is continuing to investigate 120 deaths among patch users.”
Correy E. Stephenson, Lawyers USA 8/03/07
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