LAWYERS DROP FEDERAL EFFORT TO MERGE OXYCONTIN CASES

The Lawsuits Accuse Purdue Pharma Of Overpromoting The Prescription
Painkiller While Playing Down Its Addictive Side.

Lawyers have dropped an effort to consolidate dozens of federal lawsuits,
including three in Southwest Virginia, against the maker of the painkiller
OxyContin.

Earlier this year, three lawsuits in U.S. District Court in Abingdon were
put on hold because of the possibility that pretrial proceedings would be
heard by a single judge appointed to handle all such cases nationwide.

The lawsuits accuse Purdue Pharma, a Connecticut company that makes
OxyContin, of overpromoting the prescription painkiller while playing down
its addictive side.

Litigation was stayed earlier this year when the plaintiffs in a South
Carolina OxyContin case filed a motion to have the lawsuits heard through
multidistrict litigation, which is used to consolidate the handling of
discovery and other pretrial proceedings in similar claims nationwide.

But the plaintiffs recently withdrew their request, allowing the cases to
be handled individually in their respective courts, according to Tim
Bannon, a spokesman for Purdue Pharma.

The company had objected to multidistrict litigation because it thought
each case was different, Bannon said. Dropping the process "enables the
cases to be tried on the merits, and we think the merits favor us," Bannon
said.

Efforts to reach the plaintiffs' attorneys were unsuccessful.

William Eskridge, an Abingdon attorney who represents Purdue Pharma in the
three lawsuits filed in Virginia, said it's likely that the stay will be
lifted and the cases will proceed toward trial. One trial that was to begin
in October was postponed earlier this year because of the request for
multidistrict litigation.

Had the process been used, the cases would have returned to their original
courts for trials if they survived the consolidated pretrial proceedings.

Hundreds of people have become addicted to OxyContin in far Southwest
Virginia, where police say it has become the drug of choice among abusers
who crush the pills and snort or inject the powder for a heroin-like high.

Purdue Pharma has contested claims raised by more than 200 lawsuits filed
against it, saying that those who misuse OxyContin should not be allowed to
recover damages - or to infringe on the rights of legitimate patients who
need the medication.

About 30 lawsuits have been dropped or dismissed, Bannon said, and the
company has yet to settle a claim or lose a case in court.