Family of dead Alta. man seeks class-action lawsuit against drug-makers

From the Calgary Herald:
The last time Ellen Robb spoke with her brother, he was doing chores and laundry at home, optimistic that with his chronic back pain under control, he would soon be back at work as an electrician.

Four days later, after many unanswered phone calls, Robb found Doug Hoy dead on his apartment floor, barefoot as if he were on his way to get his laundry basket across the hall.

Months later, a toxicology report revealed Hoy’s blood had three times the safe amount of fentanyl, Robb said.

Fentanyl is an opiate 80 to 100 times as strong as morphine, and approved for use as a pain medication in Canada and the United States.

Hoy had been prescribed the fentanyl patch to treat his severe chronic back pain after another powerful opiate, OxyContin, failed to bring relief.

Now, Robb and her family have taken steps to launch a class-action lawsuit against five pharmaceutical companies, alleging the companies that design, test and distribute fentanyl patches were negligent in warning people about the risks of breathing problems or death, as well as severe weakness, drowsiness and confusion. ...more

Important Changes to the Dose Conversion Guidelines for Fentanyl Transdermal Systems

From Health Canada:

The manufacturers of Fentanyl Transdermal Systems, in collaboration with Health Canada, are advising Canadians that important changes have been made to the dosage guidelines which are used to determine what dosage of Fentanyl Transdermal Systems is appropriate for each individual patient, and that this important safety information has been sent to all Canadian health care professionals and hospitals.
For Health Professionals
For the Public

Addicts turning to pain patches

From the National Post:
Despite triggering a growing list of overdose deaths, powerful pain-control patches have become a rare but highly sought-after narcotic on some Canadian streets, a new study indicates.

Resourceful addicts have even devised ingenious ways to defeat safety features added recently to the Fentanyl patches, researchers discovered.

"This is bad news in many ways and ... I don't think anybody has a clear idea what to do about it," said Dr. Benedikt Fischer of the B.C. Centre for Addictions Research, one of the authors of the study. "This is a killer drug out there, in many ways."

Known by the brand-name Duragesic, the patches are prescribed primarily for treating chronic pain of cancer patients and others. More than 600,000 prescriptions were sold in Canada last year, according to IMS Health. ...more

Fentanyl pain patches recalled in Canada

From CTV News:
In the latest of several alerts on the safety of fentanyl pain-relief patches, Health Canada has announced the recall of two brands of the powerful patches.

The agency advises against using:

* 25 mcg/hr Duragesic (fentanyl transdermal system) patches sold by Janssen-Ortho Inc.
* 25 mcg/hr Ran Fentanyl Transdermal System patches sold by Ranbaxy.

Both products are being voluntarily recalled because they may have a cut along one side of the patch that could result in leaking of the fentanyl gel from the patch.

"Exposure to fentanyl gel that has leaked from the patch may lead to increased skin absorption and could result in serious, potentially life-threatening adverse events, including respiratory depression (slowed breathing) and possible overdose, which may be fatal," Health Canada said in its warning. ...more

Improper use of fentanyl pain patches linked to more deaths: FDA

From CBC News:
U.S. health officials say improper use of patches that emit the painkiller fentanyl is still killing people.

Today's warning from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is the second concerning the powerful narcotic in two years.

The FDA blames some of the deaths on the patches being improperly prescribed to certain patients. Fentanyl should be used to control chronic pain in people already used to narcotics, such as some cancer patients. Yet the FDA has found cases where doctors prescribed it for headaches or post-surgical pain. ...more

Coroner investigates high-risk painkiller

From the Globe and Mail:
Ontario's chief coroner is investigating the deaths of three patients who appear to have overdosed on pain medication that was administered using a stick-on patch. And at least three more deaths in B.C. have been linked to the same drug.

The news is drawing attention to the dangers of fentanyl patches, which have been growing in popularity despite repeated warnings from health regulators that they should not be used indiscriminately.

David U, president and chief executive officer of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, said the painkiller patch is a good drug and a convenient alternative to the pills, injections and pumps often relied upon by chronic pain sufferers, but fentanyl patches are being widely misused.

"These cases are preventable," he said of the deaths and the dozens of reports of illness among patients using fentanyl patches in Canada. ...more