Duragesic Fentanyl Pain Patch Recalled
Patches containing the prescription painkiller fentanyl manufactured by Johson & Johnson and sold under the brand name Duragesic were recalled today, because of a flaw that could cause patients to overdose.
It is believed that there may be a cut in the lining of the reservoir of some of the patches causing the gel form of the drug to ‘leak’. Direct contact with this powerful “opioid” could result in overdose resulting in death.
In December, the FDA put out its second warning in two years about the dangers of misusing the powerful drug. It is estimated that two patches out of every million included in the recall have the defect that causes the leak.
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- Duragesic
- Fentanyl
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Jury Awards $16.5 Million in Fentanyl Death Case
“They knew this patch was dangerous and defective but they continued to sell it and make money, and that’s the only reason Janice DiCosolo is dead”
A jury in Chicago has found two Johnson & Johnson subsidiaries liable in the death of a Cicero, Ill., woman who died while using a Duragesic patch, and ordered the companies to pay her family $16,560,000.
The verdict in the case involving 38-year-old Janice DiCosolo, a mother of three, was delivered in Judge Thomas Flanagan’s courtroom in the Cook County Circuit Court, after a three-week trial.
The patch that Mrs. DiCosolo was using at the time of her death was part of a larger group of patches that was recalled in 2004. That same year, an FDA investigator found deficiencies in manufacturing practices and quality control assurance policies and procedures.
“The drugstore that sold this patch sent Mr. DiCosolo a letter days after his wife’s death to tell him about the recall,” says attorney John Cushing of The Law Offices of John Cushing in Chicago, who also represented the DiCosolo family. “This was a tragic death that didn’t have to happen.”
When Mrs. DiCosolo died on February 15, 2004, she was using a Duragesic patch that her doctor prescribed to reduce the almost constant pain she experienced as a result of a neurological condition called reflex sympathetic dystrophy. Duragesic is a patch containing a gel form of the drug fentanyl, which is 100-times stronger than morphine.
$5.5 Million Award in First Federal Fentanyl Trial
Jury finds Johnson & Johnson subsidiaries liable in death of 28-year-old
The family of a Florida man has won a $5.5 million wrongful death verdict against two subsidiaries of pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson in the nation’s first federal trial involving a patch form of the narcotic painkiller fentanyl.
Janssen Pharmaceutica Products, LP, and ALZA Corp. were sued by the family of 28-year-old Adam Hendelson following his death on Dec.17, 2003. Mr. Hendelson suffered chronic hip pain as a result of an automobile accident, and wore a Duragesic (R) patch on his right arm.
Duragesic is the brand name of a transdermal patch that contains a gel form of the drug fentanyl, an opium-like substance that is up to 100 times stronger than morphine.
Duragesic patches accounted for $1.5 billion in total sales in 2005. In June 2005, more than a year after Mr. Hendelson’s death, the defendants issued new health warnings regarding the use of Duragesic.
