Pharmaceutical Company Must Reveal Fentanyl Patch Data in Wrongful Death Lawsuit

In a recent Maryland pharmacy error injury lawyer blog, our attorneys discussed the increasing medication errors resulting from the incorrect administration of Fentanyl, the strong pain relieving medication patch. If a medication error occurs with Fentanyl, the improper administration of the drug can lead to a drug overdose or even wrongful death.

In a recent wrongful death lawsuit that our Baltimore pharmacy error attorneys have been following, Monika Standing and Chris Bristol are suing Watson Pharmaceuticals and two corporate affiliates after their daughter Nicole died three weeks after using the 75-microgram time-released fentanyl patches in January 2008. Nicole’s parents claim that her fentanyl patch, made by Watson, leaked—causing Nicole to suffer an overdose of the fentanyl gel inside, leading to her death.

According to the lawsuit, the fentanyl patches made by Watson used a faulty design, creating a patch that was prone to leaks, which lead to possible overdoses and deaths. Other patches made by competitors reportedly had a safer patch design that did not leak.

Last week, as the case developed, a Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge reportedly ordered Watson Pharmaceuticals to turn over pain patch samples, any materials used for commercials or marketing, all written communication between Watson Pharmaceuticals and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration involving the usage and safety of the fentanyl patch, all experiments or studies done involving fentanyl patch levels in the user’s bloodstream when using the patch, all autopsy reports and papers involving deaths while using the patch, and transcripts of all depositions taken of any Watson employee or key expert witness in a previous defective fentanyl pain patch lawsuit, and also ordered certain key executives from the company to testify about the pain patches.

In Baltimore, Maryland, contact our pharmacy error injury lawyers today.

Pain patch maker must reveal data in California death suit, Thomson Reuters, April 18, 2011

Related Web Resources:

U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Medication Error Reports

Related Blog Posts:

Prescription Pain Medication Error Due to Alleged Drug Theft, Pharmacy Error Injury Lawyer Blog, February 14, 2011
ISMP—Prescribing Fentanyl Pain Medication for Short-Term Pain Be Deadly, Pharmacy Error Injury Lawyer Blog, January 25, 2011
Man Died from Overdose of Fentanyl—Widow Sues Center for Medication Error, Pharmacy Error Injury Lawyer Blog, January 04, 2011

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