A federal jury in Florida has awarded $5.5 million to the father of a man who died while wearing a drug patch; the patch, made by two Johnson & Johnson subsidiaries, is designed to release controlled doses of the strong painkiller fentanyl. The jury found that Janssen Pharmaceutical Products and ALZA Corp were liable in the death of the 28-year-old man who died in 2003 while wearing the Durgesic patch.
Adam Hendelson had suffered chronic hip pain after a car accident and wore the patch on his arm. Hendelson’s father, Lee, filed the lawsuit on behalf of his son’s estate. Fentanyl is approximately 100 times stronger than morphine.
The Food and Drug Administration announced in 2005 that it was investigating the 120 deaths of fentanyl patch users and warned patients using the patch to use the powerful narcotic properly, according to doctor’s instructions to avoid accidental overdose. The FDA is also investigating to see whether there were also other factors related to the product’s quality.
The patches were first approved in 1990 under the brand name Duragesic and a generic version hit the market in 2005. According to reports, deaths have occurred using both the brand and generic patches.
