Personal Injury Law

Family Awarded $13.3M in Pain Patch Wrongful Death

By Louthian Law Firm

A Florida jury has awarded $13.3 million to the family of a woman who died when her pain patch failed and flooded her system with too much medication. Susan Diane Hodgemire, 34, suffered from violent vomiting and fell into a coma after the contents of the patch came into direct contact of her skin. She later stopped breathing and died. Hodgemire is but one of many victims of defective pain patches distributed by Johnson & Johnson that have been found to leak a deadly amount of the narcotic fentanyla. About 80 percent of the lawsuit settlement will be handled by Johnson & Johnson. The rest of the settlement is to be paid by a physician who was found liable for medical malpractice for his actions after Hodgemire telephoned for help. The Johnson & Johnson pain patches have been involved in dozens of other lawsuits nationwide.

If you or someone you care about was injured by a defective medical product like the pain patches, contact the Louthian Law Firm today at 1-866-410-5656 for a free evaluation of your case.

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Full post as published by South Carolina Lawyer Blog on November 07, 2008 (boomark / email).