What defenses are the drug manufacturer and/or my doctor likely to use?

Purdue Pharma and your doctor may spend a fair amount of effort pointing fingers at each other for liability. Purdue Pharma will argue that it was up to your doctor to make the appropriate call as to whether you were a good candidate for Oxycontin, to watch you for signs of abuse and addiction, and to monitor your withdrawal from the drug. Your doctor, on the other hand, will argue that the manufacturer misled him or her with respect to all the risks associated with taking Oxycontin, that the signs of abuse and addiction were never emphasized, and that a tapered withdrawal from the drug was not emphasized by the company.

If the essence of your complaint revolves around your or a loved one’s addiction, you can expect whomever is on the other side of the table to argue that the addiction is due to lack of self control – in essence that, if the addict really wanted to stop taking Oxycontin, he or she would and therefore, the manufacturer or doctor has no control over the addiction. Since Oxycontin addiction is caused by actual changes in brain chemistry, this argument is, of course, wrong. However, you will probably have to bring in an expert to testify to the nature of the addiction.