Pubdate: Thu, 12 Jul 2001
Source: Bristol Herald Courier (VA)
Copyright: 2001 Bristol Herald Courier
Contact: http://www.bristolnews.com/contact.html
Website: http://www.bristolnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1211
Author: Lee Davenport, Bristol Herald Courier
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?186 (Oxycontin)

PURDUE PHARMA TO SEEK A DISMISSAL OF A MULTIBILLION-DOLLAR CLASS-ACTION LAWSUIT

JONESVILLE -- Purdue Pharma will seek a dismissal of a multibillion-dollar 
class-action lawsuit on grounds that state law does not permit them, the 
drug-maker's local attorney said Wednesday. Seven Southwest Virginians 
filed the suit last month claiming they have suffered in some way due to 
abuse of Purdue's painkiller OxyContin. They claim the company aggressively 
marketed the drug while downplaying its risks. Abingdon attorney William 
Eskridge, who represents the Connecticut drug-maker, called the suit 
"irresponsible, unfounded and legally flawed." He filed a response to the 
suit Wednesday in Circuit Court here. "Virginia state law does not permit 
class-action lawsuits.

On these and other grounds, Purdue Pharma will seek to have the case 
dismissed," Eskridge said. "At the heart of this litigation is a 
transparent effort to demonize Purdue Pharma and exploit the adverse 
publicity surrounding OxyContin, which will only end up hurting legitimate 
pain patients," he said. The drug -- a synthetic morphine used to treat 
severe, chronic pain -- has been linked to more than 120 deaths nationwide, 
and more than three dozen Southwest Virginians have died of overdoses, 
authorities say. It is a time-release formulation of the narcotic oxycodone.

Authorities say many addicts abuse the drug by removing its protective 
coating, releasing 12 hours worth of painkilling power at once. The 
lawsuit, filed in Lee County Circuit Court, came on the heels of a similar 
suit filed a week earlier by West Virginia officials asserting that Purdue 
used coercive tactics to convince doctors and pharmacists to overprescribe 
the drug. Also named in the Virginia suit are Dr. Richard Norton, a former 
Lee County Community Hospital emergency room doctor now serving a federal 
prison sentence in South Carolina for embezzling money from the hospital, 
and Dr. Shireen Brohi, who practices for Merritt Medical Group in Lebanon. 
Both are accused of leading patients to addiction by needlessly prescribing 
the potent drug. Brohi declined comment Wednesday, referring questions to 
her attorney, Walt Peake of Roanoke, who did not immediately return 
telephone calls. OxyContin abuse "is growing like a cancer, like a 
wildfire," Abingdon attorney Emmitt Yeary, who represents the plaintiffs, 
said last month. "There are just countless ways the drug is injuring all 
people." The suit calls for Purdue to pay more than $5.2 billion in 
compensatory damages to the plaintiffs and would require the pharmaceutical 
giant to set up rehabilitation facilities in the region and provide ongoing 
medical monitoring for patients using the drug. Plaintiffs include a 
stay-at-home mother who was prescribed OxyContin after a hysterectomy and 
became addicted.

Her marriage ended and she spent four months in jail after forging checks 
to get drug money, according to the suit. Another is a Bristol Virginia 
grandmother who filed suit on behalf of her granddaughters, who, according 
to the lawsuit, were abandoned by their mother after she became addicted. 
The plaintiffs' lawyers could not be reached Wednesday night for comment on 
the response.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager