Posted on 04/24/2002 9:20:42 AM PDT by purplegirl
Oxy Morons
It's hard to tell who are the bigger drug abusers: addicts or their lawyers.
Remember the frenzy surrounding Oxycontin , the prescription painkiller that spawned a megadose of media hype last year? After street addicts of the powerful opioid began dying in scores from overdoses, critics were quick to portray the drug's maker, Stamford, Conn.-based Purdue Pharma , as a renegade marketer that ignored the drug's dangers while hyping its analgesic benefits.
Sources: IMS Health; DEA study. By the Numbers
$1.5 billion Oxycontin sales in 2001.
39% Increase in Oxycontin sales 2000 to 2001.
40% Percentage of victims who had at least two opiates in their system when they died of overdoses involving Oxycontin's active ingredient.
Smelling opportunity, plaintiff lawyers have filed at least 60 lawsuits against the company. But so far Purdue has emerged the victor. In February a federal judge in Kentucky denied class status for a suit that blamed the company's marketing campaign for Oxycontin abuse, noting that many of the plaintiffs in the class would be people "who obtained Oxycontin illegally [and] use the drug illegally."
In a separate case that sought an injunction to curb prescriptions of Oxycontin, another Kentucky judge ruled that "the plaintiffs have failed to produce any evidence showing that the defendants' marketing, promotional or distribution practices have ever caused even one tablet of Oxycontin to be inappropriately prescribed or diverted." Similarly unfavorable rulings and a tough defense by Purdue prompted plaintiffs in three other cases to withdraw their suits.
But that hasn't stopped lawyers from finding other victims in their quest to get a piece of the billion-dollar fortune of the Sackler clan, the press-shy family that owns Purdue Pharma. While some lawyers offer rewards for leads, others outright lie. Last fall Lutzel & Associates in North Carolina sent a letter soliciting users of Oxycontin and several other drugs. Claiming that the Food & Drug Administration had "banned" the medications, the letter advised them to "stop using" the drugs immediately.
Oxycontin was never even threatened with removal. Patients who suddenly go off Oxycontin and similar drugs can suffer severe withdrawal and, in extreme cases, fatal heart attacks.
Attorney Richard Lutzel says the letter was "approved" sight unseen by the North Carolina State Bar, but he seemed at a loss to explain its contents or how many people received it. At first he maintained that the letter, which offered the firm's phone number for information, went only to previous "clients." He later admitted "I can't tell you it didn't go to people who are not already clients.... I can't find my file on this right now."
Strange, considering that Lutzel had "a complaint ready to go" against Purdue Pharma.
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