Pain Patches cost $13 Million

Pain Patches cost Johnson and Johnson subsidiaries Jannssen Pharmaceutica Products and Alza, $13 Million. The case is Scott David Hodgemire v. Janssen Pharmaceutica Products 04-CA-13H-1C-K Seminole County, Florida. The Johnson and Johnson units have lost all three cases to go to trial so far over the patches. Plaintiffs in Texas and Florida court won $6.2 Million. Ms. Hodgemire, a 34 year old mother of 5, died from an overdose of fentanyl, a painkiller more powerful than morphine, that is delivered through patches. Hodgemire used the patches after recovering from back surgery. Hodgemire's attorney argued that J & J officials knew manufacturing defects caused the company to produce flawed patches and sold the devices anyway. The Patches, which are still on the market, are made by Alza and distributed by Janssen. In July 2005 U.S. FDA began a probe of 120 deaths linked to pain patches. The investigation followed a recall of some of the patches after reports of leaks. The FDA ended the probe in 2007 issuing a second safety warning about the duragesic patches and its generic equivalents. The agency urged doctors to take care in prescribing the patch and educate patients about their use. There are still 60 lawsuits over the Duragesic patches per Johnson and Johnson in an August 2008 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.