Johnson & Johnson & Sandoz Recall Pain Patches

Greg Owen

Attorney

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Johnson & Johnson and Novartis AG's Sandoz unit recalled pain patches that are leaking the painkiller fentanyl. Fear of overdoses of the painkiller fueled the recent recall. This is the fifth (count them) recall of several versions of the patches since 1994.

The problem is that the pain patch delivers an opiod known as fentanyl, which is highly addictive. In fact, it is 80 times more potent that morphine. The defective patches have a sliced edge that could result in the gel leaking and that would deliver more than 25-microgram-per-hour dose.

The Duragesic patches brought in $1.16 billion in global sales last year alone, which makes them Johnson & Johnson's eighth-biggest selling product. This particular recall involves patches that were distributed in the United States and Canada. Johnson & Johnson said in November that it faced 72 lawsuits over the patches. "The FDA continues to engage with the company in its voluntary recall and is investigating the situation,'' FDA spokeswoman Susan Cruzan said in an e-mail." According to Jon Fisher, a portfolio manager at Fifth Third Asset Management in Minneapolis, "the recall is small enough that I doubt this will impact the bottom line." And unfortunately, the bottom line is what matters most to too many. The public needs to be aware.

Information Pertaining to Defective and Dangerous Products