On June 19, 2007, a federal jury awarded $5.5 million to Lee Hendelson after his 28-year-old son, Adam, died from using Johnson & Johnson’s pain-killing Duragesic patch. The patch contains a powerful painkiller fentanyl, which can be lethal if a person consumes too much.

The Duragesic lawsuit came a year after a jury in Houston awarded $772,500 to the daughter of a woman who died while wearing the patch. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in 2005 it was investigating 12 deaths among people who used fentanyl.

Source: Birmingham Business Journal, “Gulas and Stuckey attorney wins $5.5 million.” June 20, 2007.