PITTSBURGH – The family of a man who died of renal cancer is suing the manufacturers and distributors of the generic blood pressure medication he took alleging the medication contained misbranded ingredients and were illegally distributed and sold.
According to the Aug. 9 filing in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, the plaintiffs Beverly Patton, as the administratrix of the estate of Joseph Patton, and Jeffrey Patton filed the civil action against the defendants Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceutical; Prinston Pharmaceutical; Solco Healthcare U.S. LLC; Aurobindo Pharma LTD; and others, alleging strict liability and other counts.
"Plaintiff brings this complaint as a result of Joseph R. Patton’s development of renal cancer and subsequent death therefrom, as a result of taking an adulterated, misbranded, and unapproved medication designed, manufactured, marketed, distributed, packaged, and/or sold by defendants," the plaintiffs' complaint states.
"The valsartan ingested by the decedent was manufactured, distributed, sold, marketed, advertised, and/or promoted by the defendants and was at least in part subject to the recent recall of valsartan issued by the United States Food and Drug Administration," the complaint states.
The plaintiffs allege that the decedent and his doctors were unaware and "misled" by the drug manufacturers and allege the defendants falsely marketed valsartan and "chose not to inform" about the risks associated with the medication that contained N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) and N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA) which are both classified as probable human carcinogens by the Environmental Protection Agency.
The plaintiffs seek compensatory and punitive damages as well as interest, cost of litigation and attorneys' fees.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs are Patricia McGrail, Jeffrey Ries and Weston Pesillo with McGrail & Associates LLC in White Oak.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania case number 2:19-cv-00981