Purdue Wins Case Involving OxyContin Sales February 14, 2005
News Summary
A former OxyContin saleswoman has lost a case against pharmaceutical firm Purdue Pharma in which she alleged that the company pressured her to illegally market the drug to doctors, the Tampa Tribune reported Feb. 9.Karen White of Lakeland, Fla., had charged that Purdue Pharma fired her from her sales job because she would not pressure doctors to prescribe high doses of OxyContin to fight pain. Purdue countered that their sales tactics were legal and that White was fired because she did not sell enough.
White had sought $138,000 in back wages plus $690,000 for emotional pain.
"Today's verdict vindicates Purdue Pharma," the company said in a statement following the jury decision. "The false claims made against us now have been formally rejected by a court of law ... We remain committed to serving physicians and the patients in their care by providing innovative prescription and nonprescription products and promoting them in an ethical way."
White, who said that an appeal is possible, expressed disappointment. Her attorney, Robert McKee, said in his closing statement, "Purdue would have you believe it was on a mission to relieve people of their pain ... Purdue, with its aggressive marketing program, was on a mission to relieve people of their money. This marketing system was corrupt. It was corrupted by money, corrupted by greed, and this lady refused to go along."
But Purdue attorney Gordon Smith said White lost her job because of her "personal disagreement with promoting the drug in an entirely legal way." He said those tactics included educating doctors about OxyContin's utility at higher doses and helping physicians overcome their concerns about writing high-dose prescriptions.
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