Morons try to Cash In on the OxyContin Media Hoax  
Posted by ajones -- June 17, 2001
JONESVILLE, Va. -- A multibillion-dollar lawsuit has been filed against the makers of the painkiller OxyContin and two doctors for allegedly failing to warn patients that the drug is dangerously addictive.
The drug is intended for use by terminal cancer patients and chronic pain sufferers, but has been linked to at least 120 overdose deaths nationwide.
The suit was filed on Friday by seven people who are former addicts or relatives of addicts. The suit, which seeks class-action status for other victims, alleges the drug's makers aggressively marketed the painkiller while downplaying its risks.
Named as defendants are Purdue Pharma LP, Purdue Frederick Co. and Purdue Pharma Inc., all based in Stamford, Conn. Abbott Laboratories Inc. (ABT) and Abbott Laboratories, both based in Chicago. were also named in the suit. Abbott Lab co-promotes with drug with Purdue Pharma.
The plaintiffs are seeking more than $5.2 billion in compensatory damages from Purdue. They also want the pharmaceutical company to set up rehabilitation facilities in the region and provide ongoing medical monitoring for patients using the drug.
If taken properly, Oxycontin's active ingredient is released slowly into the body. But abusers circumvent the time-release by crushing the pills and inhaling or injecting the powder to get the same kind of euphoric high that heroin brings.
On Monday, the state of West Virginia sued the makers of OxyContin, claiming they tried to get doctors to overprescribe the drug while failing to warn of its potential for abuse.
"What has happened is an atrocity," said Dawn Stewart of Hedrichsen Siegel, a Washington law firm representing the plaintiffs. "We have reason to believe there could be potentially thousands affected by OxyContin."
Also named in the suit are doctors Richard Norton and Shireen Brohi. Mr. Norton is a former emergency room doctor now serving a federal prison sentence in South Carolina for embezzling from a hospital.
"I do not prescribe the drug and I have no comment," Ms. Brohi told the Associated Press on Saturday. Then she said she has prescribed the drug once in the last six to eight months.
Calls to a Purdue Pharma official weren't immediately returned Saturday.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has chosen Mississippi, West Virginia, Virginia, Florida and Ohio to participate in a pilot program to monitor prescriptions and try to stop OxyContin abuse.
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