Cincinatti.com reported on Sunday about a wrongful death Darvocet lawsuit filed by the parents of a 22-year old woman who died suddenly after she had been taking the painkiller for eight days.
Tammy and John Gilbert filed a wrongful death suit January 7, 2011 against Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals Inc., the company that formerly distributed Darvon and Darvocet, after their daughter Kira Nicole was found dead in her apartment on April 9, 2009. The lawsuit, which additionally names Eli Lilly and Co., the company that originally manufactured Darvon and Darvocet, as a defendant, claims that the cause of death was acute cardiac failure. "Nikki" had been prescribed Darvocet after she tore a knee ligament at work. Her mother says that the drug was used as prescribed and that Nikki had no known history of heart problems. "I took the doctor's word, and I took the information on that medicine that it was safe. It wasn't. This has destroyed our life," said Tammy Gilbert.
At the time it was filed in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati, the Gilberts' lawsuit was one of nine, a Kentucky-based company that sells and markets prescription drugs. Darvon and Darvocet were top sellers for Xanodyne (in 2007, they represented more than 1/3 of the company's 2007 revenue) until the FDA requested a withdrawal of all products containing the synthetic opiate propoxyphene. Xanodyne acquired the drugs from aaiPharma Inc. in 2005 for $209 million. Eli Lilly and Co. was the first drugmaker to produce a propoxyphene product when Darvon was introduced to the U.S. market in 1957. Darvocet, which additionally contains acetaminophen (Tylenol), was first sold by El Lilly and Co. in 1972. Since they became available than 50 years ago, propoxyphene products have been among the best-selling drugs in the United States. Since 2005, around 120 propoxyphene prescriptions have been filled, with more than 23 being dispensed in 2007 alone.
But impressive sales numbers for propoxyphene have long been shadowed by statistics that tie the drug to thousands of overdose deaths. The FDA, responding to more than 3,000 reports of suicide, addiction, and overdose related to propoxyphene (and pressure from the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen), ordered Xanodyne to conduct a study on the drug's effects on the heart in 2009. The results, which definitively showed propoxyphene was a cardiac toxin, led to the eventual recall of Darvon, Darvocet, and other products containing the drug last November. According to Brad Mitchell, a Cincinnati-based consultant to pharmaceutical firms and manufacturers, the FDA's decision, "didn't come as a surprise to Xanodyne," which two months prior to the announcement laid off 60 percent of its 200 employees.
The Gilberts' lawsuit, like the other wrongful death claims against Xanodyne, seek to establish that the company knew or reasonably should have known about Darvon and Darvocet's potentially fatal side effects and provided sufficient warning of them. The family hopes that their tragic experience and lawsuit serve as a warning to others. "People need to be aware that the medicines out there are not always as safe as we're led to believe," said Tammy Gilbert. "These drug companies need to know that there are more important things in this world than money."
The recall of Darvon and Darvocet could prove to be doubly painful for Xanodyne, which not only lost two of its top sellers, but now faces the prospect of paying millions, perhaps even billions, of dollars in punitive and compensatory damages to people who were injured by and lost family members to propoxyphene. If you were unfortunate enough to have suffered harm or lost a loved one to this dangerous drug, consider speaking with the Rottenstein Law Group about filing a Darvon/Darvocet lawsuit. By consulting with a member of RLG, you can be confident that your claim is being handled by a lawyer with more than 25 years of experience in product liability law.
Tammy and John Gilbert filed a wrongful death suit January 7, 2011 against Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals Inc., the company that formerly distributed Darvon and Darvocet, after their daughter Kira Nicole was found dead in her apartment on April 9, 2009. The lawsuit, which additionally names Eli Lilly and Co., the company that originally manufactured Darvon and Darvocet, as a defendant, claims that the cause of death was acute cardiac failure. "Nikki" had been prescribed Darvocet after she tore a knee ligament at work. Her mother says that the drug was used as prescribed and that Nikki had no known history of heart problems. "I took the doctor's word, and I took the information on that medicine that it was safe. It wasn't. This has destroyed our life," said Tammy Gilbert.
At the time it was filed in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati, the Gilberts' lawsuit was one of nine, a Kentucky-based company that sells and markets prescription drugs. Darvon and Darvocet were top sellers for Xanodyne (in 2007, they represented more than 1/3 of the company's 2007 revenue) until the FDA requested a withdrawal of all products containing the synthetic opiate propoxyphene. Xanodyne acquired the drugs from aaiPharma Inc. in 2005 for $209 million. Eli Lilly and Co. was the first drugmaker to produce a propoxyphene product when Darvon was introduced to the U.S. market in 1957. Darvocet, which additionally contains acetaminophen (Tylenol), was first sold by El Lilly and Co. in 1972. Since they became available than 50 years ago, propoxyphene products have been among the best-selling drugs in the United States. Since 2005, around 120 propoxyphene prescriptions have been filled, with more than 23 being dispensed in 2007 alone.
But impressive sales numbers for propoxyphene have long been shadowed by statistics that tie the drug to thousands of overdose deaths. The FDA, responding to more than 3,000 reports of suicide, addiction, and overdose related to propoxyphene (and pressure from the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen), ordered Xanodyne to conduct a study on the drug's effects on the heart in 2009. The results, which definitively showed propoxyphene was a cardiac toxin, led to the eventual recall of Darvon, Darvocet, and other products containing the drug last November. According to Brad Mitchell, a Cincinnati-based consultant to pharmaceutical firms and manufacturers, the FDA's decision, "didn't come as a surprise to Xanodyne," which two months prior to the announcement laid off 60 percent of its 200 employees.
The Gilberts' lawsuit, like the other wrongful death claims against Xanodyne, seek to establish that the company knew or reasonably should have known about Darvon and Darvocet's potentially fatal side effects and provided sufficient warning of them. The family hopes that their tragic experience and lawsuit serve as a warning to others. "People need to be aware that the medicines out there are not always as safe as we're led to believe," said Tammy Gilbert. "These drug companies need to know that there are more important things in this world than money."
The recall of Darvon and Darvocet could prove to be doubly painful for Xanodyne, which not only lost two of its top sellers, but now faces the prospect of paying millions, perhaps even billions, of dollars in punitive and compensatory damages to people who were injured by and lost family members to propoxyphene. If you were unfortunate enough to have suffered harm or lost a loved one to this dangerous drug, consider speaking with the Rottenstein Law Group about filing a Darvon/Darvocet lawsuit. By consulting with a member of RLG, you can be confident that your claim is being handled by a lawyer with more than 25 years of experience in product liability law.
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