Friend and colleague Peter Rousmaniere sent the following to me; with his permission I'm posting his note in its entirety.

"I want to alert people to a case of criminal fraud by a drug company affecting pretty much every self insured employer and workers compensation, auto and health insurer. If you work for or advise one of them, you should learn about this case and know what to do. [emphasis added]

In 2007 Purdue Pharma pled guilty to criminal charges that it mislead physicians about the risks of addiction to Oxycontin. It paid a large fine to the Federal government. Now, a federal court is in the process of implementing a class action settlement, which enables any party that paid for Oxycontin between 1995 and 2008 to recover some of its payments.

This case is not just about Purdue misleading physicians to promote this drug. It is also about using deception to increase the probability that thousands of patients, many of them injured workers, will become psychologically and physically dependent on pain medication

The settlement is not designed to recompense injured workers whose lives were up-ended by addiction to Oxycontin. That would require another suit on behalf of these workers.

At this moment, is it incumbent on self insured employers and insurers to file by May 19 in order to recover from Purdue some of their Oxycontin outlays. [emphasis added] Go to www.oxycontintppsettlement.com. I’d appreciate your keeping in touch with me on this matter."

You can reach Peter at pfr@rousmaniere.com.