Purdue Pharma Can Use Former Law Enforcement Officials To Fight Lawsuits

OXYCONTIN MAKER WINS FEDERAL COURT RULING

A lawyer representing the plaintiffs in a lawsuit said the company would
have an unfair advantage if it hired former police officers to defend it.

A federal judge has opted not to bar the manufacturer of OxyContin from
using former law enforcement officials - including one from Southwest
Virginia - in defending lawsuits involving the potent painkiller.

Purdue Pharma is also free to continue hiring former prosecutors and police
officers to help it curb abuse of OxyContin, Judge Arthur Spiegel ruled in
an order filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati.

An Ohio lawyer representing the family of a woman who overdosed on
OxyContin argued earlier this year that the company's employment of former
police and prosecutors gave it an unfair advantage in defending his
wrongful death lawsuit.

The attorney sought a temporary restraining order that would have prevented
the company from relying on the knowledge or expertise of several ex-crime
fighters - including former Sgt. Landon Gibbs of the Virginia State Police,
who supervised investigations of prescription drug crime in Southwest
Virginia before taking a job with Purdue Pharma last year.

Had the order been granted, Purdue Pharma would have also been barred from
recruiting other prosecutors and police officers to work for its law
enforcement liaison and education unit.

In denying the motion, Spiegel said he was "unable to locate any authority
allowing a court to forbid certain individuals to consult with a party to a
litigation, or even to testify on their behalf."

The judge said that if Purdue Pharma calls a witness the plaintiff finds
objectionable, the issue can be dealt with through cross-examination.

That appears unlikely to happen with Gibbs, who said in an affidavit
earlier this year that his duties as assistant director of Purdue Pharma's
law enforcement liaison and education program do not involve dealing with
litigation.

In a harshly worded response filed in March, Purdue Pharma characterized
the request for a restraining order as a frivolous motion based on
"conjecture, speculation and innuendo."

Tim Bannon, a spokesman for the company, said "we are pleased that the
judge saw through the ploy by the plaintiff's counsel and found that the
motion had no basis in law."

Joseph Hale, the Portsmouth, Ohio, attorney who filed the motion, could not
be reached for comment Wednesday.

Although Purdue Pharma had said earlier that it would seek sanctions
against Hale, Bannon said Wednesday that the company is still considering
whether to make such a request.

Hale represents the family of Jackie Burton, a 28-year-old woman who
reportedly died from an overdose of OxyContin. His lawsuit claims that the
company overpromoted the opium-based painkiller - which accounted for $1.5
billion in sales last year - while downplaying the drug's addictive side.

Abusers crush the pills and snort or inject the powder for a high similar
to heroin's. In Southwest Virginia, more than 60 people have died from
overdoses of the drug's active ingredient, and police attribute high crime
rates to OxyContin abuse.

Purdue Pharma has maintained that it should not be held responsible for the
actions of lawbreakers. So far, the company has fared well in defending
about 50 lawsuits filed against it involving OxyContin.