Federal: PA Federal Court Dismisses Travelers Indemnity’s Fraud and Unjust Enrichment Case Against Cephalon Regarding Addictive Pain Meds

A federal district court judge in Pennsylvania has dismissed a civil action filed by Travelers Indemnity seeking some $22 million in damages from Cephalon, Inc. over the “off-label” use of two cancer pain medications, determining that Travelers had not sufficiently alleged an injury and, therefore, lacked standing.  In its amended complaint, Travelers had alleged that it had been required to pay for many millions of dollars of prescriptions related to the drug Actiq, which had become popular among doctors treating workers’ compensation claimants who suffered from severe pain.  Travelers alleged that the drug was addictive and that it was frequently used improperly, such that workers’ compensation claimants suffered further injury and sometimes even death.  Travelers had identified more than 8,000 prescriptions for Actiq that it said were provided to more than 500 non-cancer patients—the FDA earlier approved Actiq for cancer treatment.  The district court indicated that the pleadings did not indicate any evidence that Actiq had failed to relieve the workers’ compensation claimants’ pain.  That Travelers could have paid less if cheaper drugs had been prescribed was insufficient to support a claim of damages.

Thomas A. Robinson, J.D., the Feature National Columnist for the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter, is a leading commentator and expert on the law of workers’ compensation.

LexisNexis Online Subscribers: Citations below link to Lexis Advance. Bracketed citations link to lexis.com.

See Travelers Indem. Co. v. Cephalon, Inc., 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95075 (E.D. Pa., July 14, 2014) [2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95075 (E.D. Pa., July 14, 2014)]

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 94.02 [94.02]

Source: Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, the nation’s leading authority on workers’ compensation law.

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