Painkiller patches containing the highly potent drug
fentanyl have been recalled because of a manufacturing defect that could result
in fatal overdoses for some users (1).
The recalled pain patches, sold under the brand name
Duragesic® by PriCara and generically by Sandoz, Inc., include all 25
microgram-per-hour patches expiring on or before December 2009 (1). Additionally, Actavis, Inc. announced its patches sold under the Abrika and Actavis labels were being recalled because of a similar defect.
Update: The FDA announced, "Actavis Inc., the United States manufacturing and marketing division of the international generic pharmaceutical company Actavis Group hf, today announced that its subsidiary Actavis South Atlantic LLC is proceeding with the voluntarily recall from wholesalers and pharmacies of all lots of Fentanyl transdermal system CII patches sold in the United States." This expanded recall covers all of their CII pain patches and goes on to warn patients that they should not use these patches because of a potential to overdose on the highly potent drug inside the patches.
Update II: According to The Associated Press, "Two Johnson & Johnson subsidiaries that make and distribute a painkilling skin patch must pay nearly $16.6 million to the family of a suburban woman who died from a drug overdose while using the product, a jury ruled Monday. The verdict is the fourth trial loss for the companies since 2006.
A Sanford, Fla., jury last month awarded $13.3 million to the family of Susan Hodgemire, 34, who died after undergoing back surgery and using the Duragesic patch. In June 2007 a federal jury awarded $5.5 million to the father of a 28-year-old man who died in 2003 while wearing the patch."
The Associated
Press originally reported that some of the recalled painkiller patches may have a
hole inside of them where the potent narcotic fentanyl is stored. If fentanyl
leaks out of the hole, it can cause either the patient or doctor/caregiver to
come into direct contact with the drug, which can result in difficulty breathing
and a fatal overdose (1).
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns:
“Fentanyl is a very potent narcotic pain medicine. For
patients who are not opioid-tolerant, the amount of fentanyl in one fentanyl
patch of the lowest strength is large enough to cause dangerous side effects such as severe
trouble breathing or very slow or shallow breathing. Use of fentanyl
patches in such cases can even result in
death (2).
The painkiller patch is prescribed for patients who are
in severe chronic pain and who have already developed a resistance to narcotic
drugs (2). Cancer patients are sometimes prescribed the painkiller patch
because of the extreme pain often associated with the disease. Fentanyl, the
active ingredient in the painkiller patches, is roughly 80 times stronger than
morphine.
In July of 2008, The Associated Press reported that illegal versions of fentanyl manufactured in Mexico have caused over 1,000 deaths over the past several years
If you or someone you care about has suffered after using a pain patch because of overexposure to the drug fentanyl, you may need to speak with our lawyers. Call us or fill out a free and confidential case evaluation to find out how we can help you.
Duragesic® is a registered
trademark of Johnson & Johnson and is used here only for the purpose of
identifying the product in question.
This law firm is not
affiliated with, sponsored by, or associated with The Associated Press, the Food and Drug Administration, or Johnson
& Johnson or any of its subsidiaries.
