Purdue Pharma seeks dismissal of Washington city’s OxyContin lawsuit

Purdue Pharma, the Stamford-based manufacturer of the pain medication OxyContin, has asked a federal judge in Seattle to throw out a lawsuit that seeks to hold it responsible for allowing its pills to flood the black market and contribute to its opioid abuse problem.

Everett, a city 28 miles north of Seattle, filed the suit in January. The lawsuit alleges that Purdue was “accountable for knowingly, recklessly and/or negligently supplying OxyContin to obviously suspicious physicians and pharmacies and enabling the diversion of OxyContin into the black market, including to drug rings, pill mills and other dealers for dispersal of the highly addictive pills.”

Purdue is arguing that there is no basis in law for a municipality to bring such an action against a pharmaceutical manufacturer, and that Everett has failed to demonstrate a direct link between the company”™s conduct and the illegal actions it maintains have taken place.

The drugmaker further noted that in 2007 it settled with Washington and other states that had claimed Purdue had aggressively marketed OxyContin to doctors while de-emphasizing its potential negative effects. As part of that settlement, the company agreed to continue an internal program to identify potential diversion or abuse.