Duragesic Pain Patch Suit Untimely, Utah Federal Judge Rules

SALT LAKE CITY - A suit brought against Novartis Pharmaceuticals Inc. by a woman who claims she was injured by a Duragesic pain patch is untimely because she knew or should have known of the causal relation between her injury and the drug more than two years before filing her complaint, a Utah federal judge has ruled. Hansen v. Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., et al., No. 2:08-985 (D. Utah).

Judge Dee Benson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah found that the plaintiff suspected that the pain patch was causing her to suffer pneumonia, blackouts and amnesia as …