Judge won’t approve oxy settlement
Saskatchewan justice says agreement may not be in ‘best interests’ of the class
Despite a new judge and further documents, a potential $20-million national agreement to compensate Canadians prescribed an addictive painkiller still won’t get the go-ahead by Saskatchewan’s courts at this time.
“I am not yet satisfied that the settlement agreement is fair, reasonable and in the best interests of the class as a whole,” Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Brian BarringtonFoote said in his recent decision.
The judgment leaves the door open to filing further information or applying for certification as a class action.
Last month’s decision follows one from last fall, when Justice Dennis Ball, who has since retired, similarly declined to approve the settlement after raising concerns about proper notification, legal fees and the payment of provincial health insurers. The proposed settlement has received approval by courts in the Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia proceedings, but those approvals are effective only if the agreement also gets the nod in Saskatchewan.
The defendants are Purdue Pharma and four related Purdue companies, accused of breaching their duty to warn consumers about the addictive properties of OxyContin and OxyNEO, which they manufactured, marketed and/or sold.
As Barrington-Foote noted in his 31-page decision, the agreement doesn’t deal with the claims of all of those who have suffered losses as a result of an addiction to Oxy. For example, it’s not for those introduced to these drugs through illicit recreational use. Rather, the action deals with those who became addicted as a result of ingesting drugs they were prescribed, as well as their family members and provincial health insurers that suffered losses as a result of their addiction. In addition, it would resolve claims only against the four defendants.
The “agreement in principle” for the four separate actions requires court approval in each jurisdiction. It provides compensation for those who took the prescribed drugs between Jan. 1, 1996, and April 15, 2016. Those in a personal relationship with class members who have died or suffered injury can also make a claim.
The settlement, reached in March last year, provides a total of $20 million, including $2 million (less $150,000 for legal fees) for provincial health insurers.
Court affidavits suggest the average payout to individual claimants will likely be in the range of $13,000 to $18,000, less costs.
The Saskatchewan suit, launched in 2012 by Merchant Law Group, covers prescribed users here as well as in Alberta, Manitoba, the Yukon, Northwest Territories or Nunavut. The Ontario proceeding includes those in B.C.; the Nova Scotia action also covers Newfoundland, Labrador, New Brunswick and P.E.I.; and there’s a Quebec action.
The original application in Saskatchewan to approve the national settlement was made in August. However, in an October ruling, Ball declined to grant it until the court had more information.
But despite the additional information and arguments, BarringtonFoote, who took over the file since Ball’s retirement, said the agreement is still lacking. In particular, he raised concerns with regards to the notification to and approval by provincial health insurers.
“The process followed in this case was rife with problems,” he said.
Even if those concerns are overcome, Barrington-Foote questioned the information provided and required on calculations, assumptions and estimates regarding the number of claimants and amount of damages.
“I am, in raising these concerns, also mindful of the fact that this was, in substance, an early stage settlement, concluded after a oneday mediation session and a conference call,” he noted.
... this was, in substance, an early stage settlement, concluded after a one-day mediation session and a conference call.