Angel Reyes Blog : Angel Reyes : Texas Litigation Lawyer and Attorney : Dangerous Drugs : Wrongful Death : Business Litigation

At some point Johnson & Johnson, ALZA Corp., Janssen Pharmaceutica, Sandoz, Mylan, and Watson will come to their senses and stop prescribing these death patches.

See article below.

2 years after student's death, SMU bans fraternity from holding parties
By SAMANTHA URBAN / The Dallas Morning News
Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Two years after an SMU student died from an overdose at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house, the university has acknowledged that drug use at the fraternity was not limited to that isolated incident and issued SAE a $5,000 fine.

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According to the FDA, in 2007 alone, U.S. pharmacies dealt out 21 million prescriptions for 24 different opioid painkiller meds, which are used by 3.7 million Americans. So 3.7 million Americans are in such excruciating pain, they have to be on opioid medication, one of the most powerful and addictive classes of drugs there is. Now the FDA is finally expressing concern over highly potent and potentially lethal drugs such as fentanyl. My firm, HORP&B, recently won a $16.5 million verdict against the makers of the fentanyl pain patch, Duragesic. Fentanyl is named in the FDA's list of unsafe narcotic products.

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As reported by me many times over the past few years, my firm has been working on hundreds of Duragesic pain patch wrongful death cases.  The cases involve leaking and defective patches manufactured by Johnson & Johnson's subsidiaries, ALZA and Janssen Pharmaceutica.  Twice our firm successfully helped victims' families achieve a measure of justice, via a jury trial, for the loss of one of their loved ones due to the malfunction of a Duragesic patch.  In both of those cases, one in Federal Court, the other in state court, the juries awarded multiple millions of dollars to the surviving family members and held Johnson & Johnson, ALZA, and Jannsen liable for the damages.

 

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The Duragesic death saga continues.  On November 17, 2008, my law firm, Heygood, Orr, Reyes, Pearson & Bartolomei, achieved a $16,560,000 verdict for the family of a Cicero, Illinois woman who died while wearing a Duragesic fentanyl transdermal pain patch. After a 3 week trial, a Chicago jury found two Johnson & Johnson subsidiaries liable for the death of 38-year-old Janice DiCosolo, a mother of three.

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If you’ve been following this blog for long, chances are you know my firm has been the leading firm in the nation when it comes to pursuing the manufacturers of faulty fentanyl pain patches that have caused the deaths of innocent victims.  In June of last year, we obtained a $5.5 million verdict against two subsidiaries of pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson when we successfully represented the family of a Florida man who died from a fentanyl overdose.
 

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Attorney's Angel Reyes and Jim Orr join Jan Schlichtmann of the Legal Broadcast Network while at the recent CLE event in Scottsdale, AZ put on by the Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association. Learn a bit more about the legal team that won the largest Duragesic Patch verdict in 2007 and how their firm approaches mass tort litigation. WATCH VIDEO...

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James (Jim) Orr, a partner in my firm, Heygood, Orr, Reyes, Pearson & Bartolomei, is a frequent guest and contributor to the Legal Broadcast Network, a website that uses blogging, video and audio podcasting to provide commentary for attorneys.  As of this date, Jim is featured in an article and podcast on the homepage of this site for his expertise on fentanyl, a dangerous opioid pain medication that is 100 times stronger than morphine, and is used during surgery for anesthesia.  The article cites Jim as “one of the nation’s leading experts in Duragesic or fentanyl patch liability cases.” Continue Reading...

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In several of my articles, I’ve talked about the dangers of the Duragesic Pain Patch containing the prescription painkiller, fentanyl. The Duragesic Patch, which is approximately 80 times more powerful than morphine, certainly does kill pain, but unfortunately, it also kills people.  In my last article I asked, “With all the severe side effects, and even deaths caused by this patch, what is it going to take before the manufacturer finally recalls this dangerous drug from the market?”  It seems they finally got a clue. A recall was issued on Tuesday, February 12 for all 25-microgram-per-hour Duragesic and Sandoz fentanyl pain patches with expiration dates on or before December 2009.  Read the AP article in its entirety below: Continue Reading...

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The FDA has now issued its second safety warning regarding the Fentanyl Skin Patch, a patch that delivers pain medication through the skin that is at least 80 times more potent than morphine.  With all the severe side effects, and even deaths caused by this patch, what is it going to take before the manufacturer finally recalls this dangerous drug from the market? Continue Reading...

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My law firm partners and I are convinced that you just can't safely deliver fentanyl transdermally. On the heels of our $5.5 million dollar verdict in the Adam Hendelson case, this article appeared in the LA Times (below). Duragesic needs to be taken off the market before it kills one more person. Continue Reading...

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I want to congratulate the trial team I had the privilege of playing with the past few weeks in Federal Court-Southern District of Florida, West Palm Beach.  Kudos go out to Ike Gulas, Jason Stuckey, Ed Angwin (Ike, Jason and Ed are from the Gulas & Stuckey Law Firm), Jim Orr, and Charles Miller for all of their efforts in the Lee Hendelson v. Johnson & Johnson et al trial. Continue Reading...

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Jury finds Johnson & Johnson subsidiaries liable in death of 28-year-old
From www.medadnews.com
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.,
June 19, 2007
PRNewswire

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. Continue Reading...

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By JANE MUSGRAVE
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 19, 2007

WEST PALM BEACH — Having survived a horrific car accident, Adam Hendelson was killed by medicine that was supposed to help him deal with lingering pain, a federal jury was told Monday.

Instead of releasing a small amount of a powerful drug into his system to deaden his pain, a patch produced by pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson leaked, delivering a fatal dose to the 28-year-old Deerfield Beach resident, attorney Jim Orr said during his closing arguments in U.S. District Court.

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Below is the latest press from the Federal Court trial. Ike Gulas, Jason Stuckey, Ed Angwin  Jim Orr, Charles Miller, and I just finished up in the Southern District of Florida, West Palm Beach.

I'll keep you posted on what the jury decides.  Tune in tomorrow.

Angel Reyes
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Bloomberg.com
By Jef Feeley
jfeeley@bloomberg.net

NEW BRUNSWICK – Johnson & Johnson officials knew some of the company's Duragesic patches for treating pain had defects and failed to warn consumers, a lawyer argued in the first federal product-liability case to go to trial over the devices. Continue Reading...

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