FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Timothy F. Bannon
OXYCONTIN LAWSUIT DISMISSED IN MISSISSIPPI; FEDERAL COURT IN KENTUCKY REFUSES PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION TO SEND CASE BACK TO STATE COURT Third Voluntary Dismissal of OxyContin Litigation in Six Weeks; No Liability in Kentucky for Pharmaceutical Sales Rep Merely Distributing OxyContin Stamford, CT – February 4, 2002 – For the third time in six weeks, the plaintiff in a lawsuit involving the prescription drug OxyContinâ (oxycodone HCL controlled-release) Tablets has voluntarily withdrawn a lawsuit against Purdue Pharma L.P., the distributor of the drug, and other defendants. In other OxyContin-related litigation in which Purdue Pharma is a defendant, a federal district court in Kentucky denied a plaintiff’s request for a remand to state court. Kenneth Jackson, the plaintiff Jackson v. Bankston-Rexall, Inc., et al., withdrew his lawsuit on January 25, 2002, three days after it had been removed from the Jefferson County Circuit Court for the State of Mississippi to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Western Division. Jackson’s voluntary dismissal follows shortly on the heels of similar actions by plaintiffs in Maine and North Carolina. In Bushey v. Purdue Pharma L.P., et al., the United States District Court for the District of Maine granted the plaintiff a voluntary dismissal on January 4, 2002. On December 13, 2001, a federal judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina dismissed McLemore, et al. v. Purdue Pharma L.P., et al. In the Kentucky litigation, Couch v. Purdue Pharma L.P., et al., the plaintiff asked the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky to send the case back to the state court from which it had been removed on September 12, 2001. In an order refusing to do so, Judge Danny C. Reeves found that Kentucky law does not make a sales representative employed by a manufacturer of a prescription drug liable for a breach of warranty, negligence or on a theory of strict liability for merely distributing OxyContin in the state. “On behalf of all innocent victims of pain, I am deeply gratified by these developments,” noted Dr. Paul Goldenheim, Executive Vice President, Worldwide R&D and senior physician at Purdue Pharma L.P., the Stamford, Connecticut-based distributor of OxyContin. “Patients need appropriate medical care, sometimes including good prescription medications selected by their doctors. Lawsuits such as these can interfere with the doctor-patient relationship to the extent that innocent pain sufferers are deprived of necessary medical care. Many patients tell us that they have had their lives taken away from them by conditions which can be relieved only through prescription medications as part of an overall treatment program.” “These results are encouraging. They reaffirm our commitment to a vigorous defense against each and every meritless claim made against us,” added Howard R. Udell, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Purdue Pharma. “Some plaintiffs’ lawyers think the rush to the court house is a rush to the bank. They file their lawsuits in the hope that they’ll get a quick settlement. If someone files a baseless claim against our company, however, they don’t get a quick settlement. They get a vigorous defense at every turn. “For fifty years, we’ve been in the business of providing quality products for physicians and patients. We will honor our pledge not to let lawsuits of this kind interfere with the care of the innocent patients who rely on our products,” Udell concluded. The labeling for OxyContin tablets contains the following warning:
|
|
|
Chat Status: |
|
|
|
|
|
