Darvocet, Darvon and Propoxyphene Products Liability Update

Posted on August 19, 2011 by Kay Van Wey

On August 16, 2011, the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation “MDL Panel” created a new multidistrict litigation (“MDL”) for Darvocet, Darvon, and Propoxyphene products liability cases, finding that centralization of these cases is appropriate under 28 U.S.C. § 1407.  The MDL Panel decided to centralize the cases in the Eastern District of Kentucky (Covington Division).  With the consent of that court, the cases will be assigned to Judge Danny C. Reeves.  Accordingly, the MDL Panel ordered transfer of the seventeen actions before it for consideration to the Eastern District of Kentucky (Covington Division).

Defendant drug manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies opposed centralization of the cases.  However, the Panel sided with the plaintiffs, who argued for centralization on the grounds that all of these cases share complex questions of fact concerning the safety of Darvocet, Darvon and Propoxyphene.  According to the Panel, the cases share factual issues as to 1) whether Darvocet, Darvon, and other medications containing Propoxyphene were defectively designed and marketed, 2) which defendants manufactured, licensed, or sold Propoxyphene products during various times, and 3) whether defendants knew or should have known of the increased risk of cardiovascular injuries with these medications and failed to provide adequate warnings of them. 
 
The MDL concerns cardiovascular injuries associated with Darvocet, Darvon and other medications containing Propoxyphene.  However, the MDL Panel left open the question of what particular cardiovascular-related injuries are or are not appropriate for inclusion in this MDL. 
 
Darvocet, Darvon, and Propoxyphene products were removed from the U.S. market in December 2010 because the risk of cardiac complications and deaths related to the drugs outweighed the benefits that the drugs afforded for pain relief.  Since then, about thirty-five cases have been filed against the companies responsible for manufacturing the drugs.  Many more cases are expected to be filed in the future.
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Money Before Medicine

Posted on June 25, 2010 by Kay Van Wey


On its seventh day of deliberations, a federal jury on Thursday, June 24 found Kansas  doctor Stephen Schneider and his nurse wife Linda Schneider guilty of conspiring to profit from illegally prescribing painkillers to patients, many of whom later died. The jury also found the Schneiders guilty on five counts of unlawfully writing prescriptions and on 11 health care fraud counts. The jury found Linda Schneider guilty of 15 money laundering charges.


Assistant U.S. Attorney Tanya Treadway prosecuted the case, which consumed eight weeks of trial. In a 34-count indictment, the Schneiders were charged with conspiring to illegally distribute prescription drugs that contributed to 21 deaths, fraud, and money laundering. The prosecution put on evidence of 176 overdoses and 68 deaths related to the pill mill.


This was a case of “money before medicine,” Tanya Treadway said. According to the prosecution, about half of the 10,000 patients treated at the Schneider Medical Clinic received pain medication. The clinic was open 11 hours a day every day, had 14 exam rooms and  scheduled patients 10 minutes apart.  Prosecutors allege the clinic made $7 million in a little over four years through health care fraud. The Schneiders pocketed about $1.5 million. The prosecution put on evidence of 176 overdoses and 68 deaths related to the pill mill.


Dr. Schneider’s attorney, reportedly supported by the advocacy group Pain Relief Network that advocates for the right to pain treatment, argued that Dr. Schneider acted “with a pure heart.” He said that “what [Dr. Schneider] did with his patients, he did so innocently, he did so honestly, and he did so courageously.”

 

Curiously, Dr. Schneider chose to drive a bright yellow hummer emblazoned with skull and crossbones to and from the pill mill on a daily basis. I wonder what kind of message he was trying to send? Was he  in a state of deep denial or did he have  so little fear of ever being prosecuted for his pill peddling that he felt bulletproof? We will probably never know, but I am sure the vehicle represents to the victims everything that was wrong with the Schneiders and their so called medical practice.


Sentencing has not yet been set. The Schneiders could face up to a life sentence.  The Schneiders also will stand trial in several civil wrongful death lawsuits which have been filed against them.
 

 We applaud the courage of Tanya Treadway in stepping up to the plate to prosecute this case.  It takes hard work and effort to bring persons such as these to justice.  Prosecutions such as these must continue to happen. Pill mill operators need to go to jail  just like persons who peddle street drugs go to jail. Pill mill operators must also be held liable for monetary damages for the devastation that they are causing while lining their pockets with blood money.Hopefully, the combination of vigorous criminal and civil prosecution will stem the tide of prescription drug overdose deaths.
 

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