A New York Supreme Court Judge denied on Monday the plaintiffs’ motion for certification of a personal injury lawsuit claiming harm, including addiction, caused as a result of using OxyContin pills, drugmaker Purdue Pharma said in press release on Thursday.

In Hurtado, et al. V. Purdue Pharma L.P., et al., Justice Stephen J. Maltese ruled that the plaintiffs had failed to meet the “commonality requirement” of class certification, stating, “[This case presents] important individual issues and to lump all of those issues together would be inappropriate for all of the parties involved.”

OxyContin, a popular and controversial prescription drug, contains oxycodone, a very strong narcotic pain reliever similar to morphine. The painkiller is prescribed to patients suffering long-term, severe pain from cancer or other illnesses. The tablet provides 12 hours of pain relief when swallowed whole.

However, OxyContin can produce a quick and potentially lethal high if chewed, snorted or injected. It has been linked to more than 100 deaths and has the FDA’s strongest warning label, which says the drug is as potentially addictive as morphine.

In state and federal courts around the country, class certification in OxyContin-related litigation has now been denied in written opinions on 9 occasions. After nearly four years of litigation, no plaintiff has been able to sustain a class in any of the OxyContin cases, Purdue said.

In his 23-page opinion and order, Justice Maltese wrote:

“[W]ithout a common injury or ’signature disease’ like asbestosis or mesothelioma, which only come from asbestos contact, it is difficult to define a class or establish causation. Signature diseases are those that are uniquely related to exposure to a certain substance and are rarely observed in individuals that are not exposed. If the plaintiffs proffer that addiction is a common injury to all parties, that does not substantiate their case. The Court of Appeals in New York has determined that issues of addiction are individualized and are not appropriate for class certification.”

In OxyContin cases that have ended, 261 lawsuits against Purdue Pharma have either been dismissed by the court or withdrawn by the plaintiffs. No case has resulted in a verdict against Purdue Pharma. With the exception of a single lawsuit brought by the Attorney General of West Virginia that was settled with no admission of wrongdoing by the company, Purdue Pharma said it has paid nothing to settle any of the 261 private cases that have been withdrawn or dismissed.

Justice Maltese also concluded that the individual plaintiffs’ claims would not be typical for the members of the proposed class, “Without a clearly defined common injury or signature disease, the five plaintiffs named cannot be typical of an entire group.”.

(via PR Newswire)