$5.5 Million Awarded to Father Of Fentanyl Pain Patch Victim<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" ?>
Last week was the nation's first trial involving a Duragesic pain patch (a form of the narcotic painkiller, fentanyl). A jury in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of Florida, West Palm Beach Division, sided in favor of client, and awarded him $5.5 million for the death of his son.
In 1994, the FDA launched an investigation into defective Duragesic pain patches and deaths related to the use of the Duragesic pain patch. Those concerns led the FDA to issue official safety warnings about the use of fentanyl transdermal patches like the Duragesic patch.
Duragesic pain patches have been known to leak fentanyl gel. Also, many individuals absorb fentanyl at a higher rate than others. If either of these occurs, injury or death is possible.
"We've seen far too many cases like this," stated the attorney. He continued, "For some time, there was compelling evidence of the dangers of this drug, and those signs were ignored by the manufacturers. That indifference ultimately led to the death of this young man, and we can only hope that this verdict sends a message to ALZA Corp. and Janssen Pharmaceutica, the wholly owned subsidiaries of Johnson & Johnson, which manufactures the Duragesic pain patch."
Something like this might not go unnoticed if they'd monitor the drug level in the patient at least once in a while. Perhaps we don't have the number of workers necessary to do it, but it sounds so careless not to.