Family Awarded $772,500 in Duragesic Patch Suit
A Texas jury awarded $772,500 to the family of a woman who died in 2004 from a leak in the Duragesic patch she was using to help ease pain after a car accident.
The state court found the two Johnson & Johnson entities that manufacture the pain patch are liable for the 42-year-old woman’s death.
According to the lawsuit, the woman’s blood was flooded with fentanyl—the ingredient used in the patch—after an accidental leak. Reports presented at the trial showed she had 10 times the amount of therapeutic fentanyl in her body.
Four days after her death, Johnson & Johnson recalled about 2.5 million Duragesic patches as a result of consumer complaints about the potentially fatal leaks.
Duragesic Adverse Events
The Food and Drug Administration approved pain patches, made by J&J and Mylan Laboratories Inc., in 1990. The patches release opiate fentanyl, a strong chemical designed to manage pain.
However, researchers found that fentanyl can cause addiction and death in users. Currently, the FDA is investigating 120 deaths linked to the Duragesic pain patch. The drug companies updated the patch’s label last July to warn doctors and patients about the adverse events associated with fentanyl.
The labels advise doctors against prescribing Duragesic to patients who have difficulties tolerating similar drugs or those who may abuse the patch.
So far, at least 100 Duragesic lawsuits have been filed in the United States citing the drug’s dangers