Cases of Interest

Fentanyl Lawsuit

If the coroner has determined your loved one died of fentanyl intoxication, and the deceased had been prescribed a fentanyl pain patch, you may want to contact an attorney to discuss the
possibility of filing a wrongful death claim. Some manufacturers have recalled certain pain patches. The use of these patches present a widespread problem in that when people die of fentanyl intoxication, and are taking just a prescribed amount of fentanyl, then it can be inferred that there was a nonspecific manufacturing defect in the fentanyl patch. In other words, the
fentanyl should have delivered an appropriate amount of pain medication and not a lethal dose.

We are most recently investigating a fentanyl case now where the decedent had three patches on
her arm for chronic back pain. Each of these fentanyl patches was designed to deliver one
hundred micrograms of fentanyl per hour. Each patch should result in about 2.5 ng/mL in the
blood. Our decedent showed over 25 ng/mL. This assumes there are no drug drug interactions
that would increase the level of fentanyl in the blood.

There are a number of companies that manufacture fentanyl pain patches:

Johnson & Johnson
Sandoz, Inc.
Ortho McNeil Janssen

Actavis

Lavipharm Labs 

Mylan Technologies 

Teva Pharms

Watson

Recently the FDA has indicated that it may put in place risk evaluation and mitigation strategies
(REMS) regarding certain opioid drugs like fentanyl. The FDA may remove Long-Acting
Opioids like fentanyl from the market unless the benefits of these medications outweigh the risks.
With that in mind the FDA began sending letters to manufacturers of both long and short acting
Opioid Analgesics like fentanyl, requesting that they develop REMS. The FDA states that the
purpose of the REMS would be to support/prove that the benefits of these drugs continue to
outweigh the risks of misuse, abuse, and accidental overdose. The manufacturer will often report
as an accidental overdose a situation like the one described above, which in fact likely involved a
product liability defect in the patch. Manufacturers of fentanyl include Ortho McNeil Janssen
(Duragesic Extended Release System), Actavis (Fentanyl Extended Release Transdermal
System), Lavipharm Labs (Fentanyl Extended Release Transdermal System), Mylan
Technologies (Fentanyl Extended Release Transdermal System), Teva Pharms (Fentanyl
Extended Release Transdermal System), and Watson (Fentanyl Extended Release Transdermal
System). The FDA is currently accepting comments until June 30th, 2009 on this particular
issue. Comments may address the type of patient education on Opioids such as Fentanyl that
should be required, including whether or not to mandate the use of prescriber-patient agreements
and what types of controls should be placed on distributors that provide Opioids like Fentanyl to
pharmacies and healthcare facilities.

Fentanyl Lawyer / Fentanyl Attorney

There is no MDL on these cases, each will be individually prosecuted. If you have been seriously
injured from a fentanyl pain patch and need an attorney for a case in the Chicago area, please call me now at 1-800-913-1708 or contact me now.

PLOUFF LAW OFFICES, P.C.
1-800-913-1708.