OxyContin suit can proceed as class action

An Ohio court gives the OK to pursue a case against the manufacturers of the pain medication.

By Tanya Albert, AMNews staff. Aug. 4, 2003.

An Ohio appellate court in July ruled that a statewide class-action lawsuit against the makers of OxyContin can go forward.

The Ohio 12th District Court of Appeals decision upheld a lower court's decision, marking the first time that an appellate court has ruled that a statewide class-action suit on behalf of patients who took the drug can proceed.

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"The court of appeals clearly found that the plaintiffs have provided evidence that OxyContin has ruined lives," said Stanley Chesley, a Cincinnati attorney representing the plaintiffs in the case.

The lawsuit, filed against Purdue Pharma LP and Abbott Laboratories, claims that the companies sold and distributed OxyContin and encouraged the medical community to widely prescribe it even though they knew it was highly addictive and unsuited for most patients.

The Ohio lawsuit is one of dozens filed in state and federal courts nationwide over the past few years that seeks to recover damages for patients who took OxyContin. Courts have dismissed nearly 30 of the lawsuits claiming that the companies that make, market and distribute the pain medication put an unsafe or defective drug on the market, improperly marketed it and caused people to become addicted to the drug or even die from it.

Purdue Pharma executives said they would appeal. "We believe that this decision is contrary to the facts and the law and therefore respectfully disagree with the court's decision," the firm said in a statement. "We will continue to defend vigorously this and any other litigation in which personal injury lawyers attempt to interfere with the professional judgment of a doctor in providing care for individual patients with pain."

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OxyContin suit can proceed as class action

An Ohio court gives the OK to pursue a case against the manufacturers of the pain medication.