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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LEGAL VICTORIES FOR PURDUE PHARMA MOUNT IN OXYCONTIN^® LITIGATION

Ohio and Kentucky Cases Bring Dismissal Total to 13

Stamford, CT – (August 5, 2002) – Purdue Pharma L.P., the Stamford, Connecticut-based distributor of OxyContin^® (oxycodone HCl controlled-release) Tablets, continues its string of legal victories in defense of lawsuits alleging personal injuries resulting from use of the prescription pain medication.

The most recent dismissals of two lawsuits against the company in Kentucky and Ohio bring the total number of lawsuits abandoned by plaintiffs to 13.  Purdue did not pay any money to the plaintiffs in any of these cases. 

In an Order filed July 29, 2002, United States District Court Judge Danny C. Reeves dismissed the Kentucky case with prejudice, a ruling which bars the plaintiff from beginning another lawsuit against Purdue based on the same claim. Judge Reeves also required the plaintiff to pay Purdue its taxable costs.

Howard R. Udell, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Purdue Pharma, reacted, “These dismissals strengthen our resolve to defend these cases vigorously and to the hilt.  We have not settled one of these cases – not one.  Personal injury lawyers who bring them in the hopes of a quick payday will continue to be disappointed.

“We have made a safe and effective product available for patients who need it according to the medical judgment of their doctors and we’re not going to compromise medical care by caving in to baseless litigation,” Udell concluded. 

The Kentucky case, Hubbard v. Purdue Pharma L.P., at al. (USDC, Eastern District of Kentucky), echoed claims being made in cases that have not yet been dismissed in other jurisdictions, including allegations that Purdue failed to warn of safety risks associated with the product and misled consumers in promoting the product directly to them. 

Dismissal of these claims is consistent with the fact that Purdue Pharma does no direct-to-consumer advertising of OxyContin, as confirmed in congressional testimony of Dr. John K. Jenkins, Director, Office of New Drugs, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), United States Senate, Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, February 12, 2002. 

In a December 27, 2001 decision dismissing a motion for a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order in another Kentucky case against Purdue, United States District Court Judge Jennifer B. Coffman wrote, "The plaintiffs have failed to produce any evidence showing that the defendants' marketing, promotional, or distribution practices have ever caused even one tablet of OxyContin to be inappropriately prescribed or diverted."

A similar claim of failing to warn about safety hazards was raised in the Ohio lawsuit, May v. David Zangmeister, M.D., et al. (Muskingum County, Ohio Court of Common Pleas).  The Ohio case was dismissed on May 15, 2002, 35 days after it began and only 2 days after Purdue filed a formal denial of the allegations with the court.

Dr. Paul Goldenheim, Executive Vice President for Worldwide Research and Development at Purdue Pharma, added, “Bad lawsuits can interfere with good medicine, and this can lead to human suffering. Because of the groundless fears promoted by personal injury lawyers in pursuit of a quick settlement, patients may be frightened into ignoring their physicians' professional judgment. Many patients tell us that they ‘get their lives back’ when their painful conditions are relieved through prescription medications as part of an overall treatment program.”

The Ohio and Kentucky cases are the most recent legal victories for Purdue Pharma.  Purdue has defeated two motions for injunctive relief and defeated class certification in the only case to address the issue of whether or not class action status is appropriate for these kinds of claims.  The company also has successfully thwarted efforts in numerous cases to defeat federal jurisdiction and have cases remanded to state courts. Additional information about Purdue’s litigation successes, as reported in The National Law Journal, can be found at http://www.nlj.com by clicking on “Past Issues” and then “April 29” 2002.

The labeling for OxyContin^® contains the following warning:

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 www.purduepharma.com.