A possible class action lawsuit against Endo!

[Dr. McKay]

There have been a lot of people including me that having been dealing with terrible withdrawls , pain , and anxiety becuase they were unable to fill their Opana scripts recently.
Endo knew there was a problem at their plant that makes Opana since 2009 and did nothing until they got shut down by the FDA.
Endo was saying that they had enough Opana left over to get through this problem, but they didn't and it has really messed up a lot of peoples lives.
So I found out on another website that a lot of people are complaining to this law firm about the situation and possibly they may take on a class action lawsuit towards Endo for this.
Here s a link to their website: http://www.drug-attorneys.com/drug-lawsuits
Please go there and email them if you were unable to fill your script recently and have been having problems because of it.

Thanks !
Dr. McKay

[opana'd]

I understand how you feel about opana or more pointedly the anxiety you have about suddenly being cut off from a critical aspect of your treatment. For many in PM, this is a fear that plays out monthly, at least it does for me, though perhaps on a slightly lower level. The issue is not the Opana so much a it is a suitable alternative being rx'd by your doctor. IMO we'd all be better suited if this highlighted the need for more compassionate care and a better understanding of equianalgesic dosing.

Regardless of what happens with Opana or any medication the doctor's response is what matter. If a blood pressure med such as Exforge also made by Novartis had a production problem or a local distribution interruptions, doctors would either make proper adjustments or face malpractice issues. I think the same is true for the issue with Opana.

Based on your posts, you clearly have suffered from being undermedicated. I hope all the patients in PM who've been terribly impacted will find a proper solution which not only solves now but all future problems of this kind. Luckily, Utah has not had this happen yet. My pharmacist has told me everything looks solid through the change over which is a whole different issue.

Whatever direction you go, I wish you the best. This is a serious issue.

[Dr. McKay]

Yup your right, but hell if a bunch of people are trying to get this class action lawsuit going I mine as well jump on.

Ive done it before twice when I got a letter in the mail about a class action law suit, and sure enough both times I got some sizeable checks in the mail several months later.

And yes my doc really undermedicated me bigtime. I was in withdrawal the first night I switched over to morphine from Opana.
We even looked at the converter on the computer and it said 450 mgs = 150 mg of Opana , and all he would give me is a total of 200 mg !
He did throw in a few dilaudid for break-thru. but the morrphine was like I never even took something.

I even told him morphine does not work for me, and he insisted I would be fine between the morph and the dilaudid.

I asked him if I could call them if it does not work, and his response was Oh I'll just see you next month and we''ll talk about things.

So Ive got another 10 days to go until I see him again.

[opana'd]

My doc has done the same thing to me. In fact he makes all med changes at about half what the conversion says. I was hurting big time. I hope this works for you because it benefits us all.

Why are the pain advocacy groups not using this to grab the bully pulpit of the national press to make the strong statement about treating all meds the same? Would the public allow blood pressure, MAOI, NSAIDS, SSRI/SSNR, anti-psychotics, etc., meds to not be properly managed when one brand of meds cannot be delivered but others are available that will work? Maybe Endo and Novartis are accountable for not instructing doctors more clearly about individualizing equianlgesic treatment plans; for not cautioning against the serious consequences to patients if undermedicating does occur given the power of oxymorphone; and for not providing more accurate estimations for the resumption of normal delivery of the medications.

I do think this is far from over. Where applicable these same concerns need to be connected to how the new formulation will impact patients. If I can help by writing letter(s) as a patient in support of the class action or other efforts post it here or via the profile messaging.

[Dr. McKay]

My doc has done the same thing to me. In fact he makes all med changes at about half what the conversion says. I was hurting big time. I hope this works for you because it benefits us all.

Why are the pain advocacy groups not using this to grab the bully pulpit of the national press to make the strong statement about treating all meds the same? Would the public allow blood pressure, MAOI, NSAIDS, SSRI/SSNR, anti-psychotics, etc., meds to not be properly managed when one brand of meds cannot be delivered but others are available that will work? Maybe Endo and Novartis are accountable for not instructing doctors more clearly about individualizing equianlgesic treatment plans; for not cautioning against the serious consequences to patients if undermedicating does occur given the power of oxymorphone; and for not providing more accurate estimations for the resumption of normal delivery of the medications.

I do think this is far from over. Where applicable these same concerns need to be connected to how the new formulation will impact patients. If I can help by writing letter(s) as a patient in support of the class action or other efforts post it here or via the profile messaging.

did you email that lawfirm I posted ?

Alot of people from another board are doing it, so the more people that do it, the better chance they will take the case.

[opana'd]

I'm on it. Most definitely adding my .02¢ to this nightmarish situation.

[vonwolf]

I would love to see some one held up to some kind of responsibility for this mess. The last 3 months has been hard, it's like a full time job just tracking down alternatives that are available. The press has deionized any legit opioid treatment meds that it has driven most small pharmacy's to not be able to sell them, so you are forced to go to the megapharms, Wal-greens, CVS and so on. Surprise surprise they could give a crap about your pain problems so you have to drive all over for hours looking for a inferior medication to try to replace the opanas that you have been taking as directed by your Doctor. The withdrawals, pain and anxiety is your problem.

I'm very tired of the prevailing attitude and would like to see the manufacture held to some kind of standard, they make staggering amounts of money producing a addictive medication that it is imposable to abruptly stop taking without serious consequence's Endo entered into the agreement to produce opanas and hold proprietary rights to be the exclusive producer, it seem there has to be some kind of production responsibility on there part. They should be held responsible they reap the reward of the patten, with the addictive dependence pain patients endure using this medication. Endo has to be responsible for this product or get out of the business.

This all has been said before so I guess theres no piont in rambling on about it but I guess venting here makes me feel little better.

[Dr. McKay]

As I have been saying this is total bullshit.
Once again their PAP is out of stock when all the local pharmacies are not starting to get all the new TRf Opanas in.
But for some reason the manaufacturer says they dont have them availible to their customers that are low income and on their Patient care program.
What kind of patient care is this supposed to be ?
Now every month I have to worry if I am going to be able to get this highly addictive and very strong pain killer that is literally impossible to find a suitable replacement for.
The month I could not get Opana ws pure hell , now it looks like I am going to either go through hell again since my doc has no idea how strong Opans actually are and that morphine is not just half the strength. It more like 1/5 the strength !
Or I may be forced to get on methadone , which I would rather not do, but it is better than being sick all month and in pain!
I really wish some lawyer will do something for us because this whole reformulation has been a catasrophe !
There are so many people that have been having a very hard few months becuase of what Endo has done.
Their plan was never done the way they told the FDA they would change the pills over to the TRF pills.
They said there would be no interuption in meds availible, but now they are going on it happening 2 different time in 3 months !

[seven10kids]

As I have been saying this is total bullshit.
Once again their PAP is out of stock when all the local pharmacies are not starting to get all the new TRf Opanas in.
But for some reason the manaufacturer says they dont have them availible to their customers that are low income and on their Patient care program.
What kind of patient care is this supposed to be ?
Now every month I have to worry if I am going to be able to get this highly addictive and very strong pain killer that is literally impossible to find a suitable replacement for.
The month I could not get Opana ws pure hell , now it looks like I am going to either go through hell again since my doc has no idea how strong Opans actually are and that morphine is not just half the strength. It more like 1/5 the strength !
Or I may be forced to get on methadone , which I would rather not do, but it is better than being sick all month and in pain!
I really wish some lawyer will do something for us because this whole reformulation has been a catasrophe !
There are so many people that have been having a very hard few months becuase of what Endo has done.
Their plan was never done the way they told the FDA they would change the pills over to the TRF pills.
They said there would be no interuption in meds availible, but now they are going on it happening 2 different time in 3 months !

cash paying people get what they want first. insurance works too. its a fucked system, but it is how the game is played. been doing this for a while now. OP and OPANA have just been HUGE reformulations with many problems. I doubt we would have one thread on a new tamper resistant MSContin

[Dr. McKay]

Seems like they would have been much better off just leaving this as is and not giving into the pressure of the media and the DEA !
Actually I never heard too much in the media about Opana , it was and still is oxy. In fact the media hardly has ever mentioned that the oxycontin were reformulated almost a year ago already, but it is still demonized !

[Kapable]

The bigger issue is that Opana is very different from other meds and once one takes it other meds just do not suffice. I HAVE to be on some form of oxyM in my regime or I get horrible pain, wd's, and depression. I have at least been able to find IR oxy M each month sometimes in three parts for one script.This month I had to pay cash for 40% of my script as a non-participating pharm((the only pharm that does not except my med insurance) was the only one who had it($248). I have had to drive over 2 hours to get my last ER script(months ago) before my PM put me on my equiv. of oxycontin.(stomach ache sludge is a better term) Any dose of anything else will not stop the severe depression since I started this med. I used to be able to go between dif meds with ease until I started Opana. I wish I never took the drug! It also has raised my tolerance for all other meds. Every month the pharms, docs, and reps have a dif date for when the IR's and TRF's will be back.(the generic IR's were made at the same plant!)
When you filled out the form Dr. M did they start hounding you? I don't need hassle, but I would like some compensation for all my time and pain. I still work and at my hourly rate they owe me 1-2k for all my time alone!

[Dr. McKay]

The bigger issue is that Opana is very different from other meds and once one takes it other meds just do not suffice. I HAVE to be on some form of oxyM in my regime or I get horrible pain, wd's, and depression. I have at least been able to find IR oxy M each month sometimes in three parts for one script.This month I had to pay cash for 40% of my script as a non-participating pharm((the only pharm that does not except my med insurance) was the only one who had it($248). I have had to drive over 2 hours to get my last ER script(months ago) before my PM put me on my equiv. of oxycontin.(stomach ache sludge is a better term) Any dose of anything else will not stop the severe depression since I started this med. I used to be able to go between dif meds with ease until I started Opana. I wish I never took the drug! It also has raised my tolerance for all other meds. Every month the pharms, docs, and reps have a dif date for when the IR's and TRF's will be back.(the generic IR's were made at the same plant!)
When you filled out the form Dr. M did they start hounding you? I don't need hassle, but I would like some compensation for all my time and pain. I still work and at my hourly rate they owe me 1-2k for all my time alone!

Well it turned out that this lawfirm I listed wont take on anything against endo at this time...but things may change or I might be able to find another lawyer.

I bet there are going to be lots of people getting all sorts of nasty problems becuase they are used to taking Opana inother ways than persribed ie. snorting , Injection .
Then snce they changed the ERs to the new
TRf style , people have been tryiing all differnet ways to shoot em or snort em, but i is probally causing some serious problems to their sinus cavites and bloodstream(viens, arteries, and heart) , .
I know that they cant be held responsible for people abusing them, but by them putting all those nasty fillers so they cant e crushed just to hurt people is just plain wrong, and I bet will cause more problems than it was when people were just mostly snorting them.

Plus the main reason why they changed the formula was so they could extend the patent another 11 years !