› $4.85 Billion settlement in drug case
A woman from Texas claims that her husband died in January 2007 as a result of his Digitek medication containing twice the active ingredient. On Jan. 23, 2008, Vickie Butts, representing the estate of her deceased husband, Donnie Butts, filed a product liability lawsuit against Actavis, the drug manufacturer, and Mylan, the distributor.
Actavis Inc. has made an agreement with the FDA not to issue any drugs from its Totowa facilities in Morristown, N.J., where Digitek is produced.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the agreement says Actavis cannot resume its practices until it conforms to “the agency’s good manufacturing practice.” Actavis must improve its labs, facilities, and equipment.
Actavis has faced numerous lawsuits over the recalled drug Digitek. One such lawsuit includes the death of a patient and claims that Digitek is an unsafe and flawed drug.
Actavis would not comment if the FDA agreement had influenced the Digitek lawsuits or not.
According to Huntington News, the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) has ordered that all federal lawsuits about the double strength, defected Digitek be transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. This development in the lawsuit is taken as a result of the April 2008 recall on Digitek. Some tablets were twice as thick as usual, made with the double amount of medication.
