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Canadian Case Targets Johnson & Johnson's Prepulsid

January 25, 2007

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A Canadian man whose 15-year-old daughter died after taking the prescription drug Prepulsid is pursuing a class action suit against Johnson & Johnson, the drug's manufacturer.

Terence Young's daughter, Vanessa, died in 2000 of a heart arrhythmia after taking the drug to ease her bloating symptons.

The class action, recently certified by an Ontario judge, seeks damages for cardiac-related injuries and also advances a claim for damages arising from the purchase of what is alleged to have been an ineffective drug.

In 2004, Johnson and Johnson agreed to provide up to $90 million in payments to resolve similar allegations in the United States. The Canadian case has been bogged down in motions for several years.

Young, a former member of Parliament, has become a crusader for tougher controls on pharmaceutical products. He organized the consumer group Drug Safety Canada and said earlier this week that his he believes his daughter would be happy that the class action is finally being allowed to proceed.

"Vanessa would be pleased because the work that I've done is to try to save other families from going through what we went through," he told the Canadian Press.

Superior Court Justice Ellen Macdonald certified the lawsuit late last week, but word of the certification wasn't made public until this week.

Also named as defendants are Johnson and Johnson's pharmaceutical subsidiary, Janssen-Ortho Inc., as well as the Attorney General of Canada.

The plaintiffs allege that the defendants "breached various duties of care owed to the class by negligently developing, testing, manufacturing, licensing, distributing and marketing Prepulsid in Canada, and by failing to adequately warn Canadian physicians and their patients of the risks associated with ingesting Prepulsid," Macdonald wrote in her ruling.

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