Utah Family Sues Pharmaceutical Company

January 31, 2012

The family of a late Hyde Park woman has sued a pharmaceutical company, claiming it made a faulty pain-relief patch that caused her death.

Logan’s Herald Journal reported family of Janine Ward filed the lawsuit Monday in 3rd District Court against the ALZA Corp. of Vacaville, Calif.

The complaint says Ward died in May 2010 after a transdermal patch leaked dangerous doses of the painkiller fentanyl.

Toxicology reports showed she had a lethal level of fentanyl in her blood when she died.

ALZA is owned by Johnson & Johnson, which issued a statement Sunday extending its sympathy to her husband, Preston, over the death.

The company says the patch is a safe and effective treatment for chronic pain, but has benefits and risks like all prescription medications.

Topics Lawsuits

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