Readington family finds justice, but seeks more Mother, young son of woman who died from OxyContin complications prepare for journey
By BOB CONSIDINE
Staff Writer
Courier News, Bridgewater, NJ
June 4, 2007
Marianne Skolek has a long trip planned next month, from her home in
Readington to a federal courthouse in Roanoke, Va.
But the memories of what made this trip possible should replace some of
the miles. She'll have her 12-year-old grandson, Brian, as her travel
companion and a constant reminder.
"In the very beginning, when Brian was 6 years old, he would say, 'Did
you get the bad guys yet?' " Skolek said. "He always knew I was working
on something. And he knew that his mommy shouldn't have died."
The date was April 29, 2002, when the boy came home from school and found
his mother not waiting for him at the bus stop, as was the norm. He walked
a block to their Phillipsburg home and found his mother in a deep sleep
in her bedroom. After a snack and some cartoons, Brian climbed into his
mom's bed and fell asleep himself.
The next morning, after attempts to wake his mother, Brian dialed 911.
Jill Carol Skolek, 29, had died of respiratory arrest. Autopsy results
attributed the heart failure to OxyContin, and the death was ruled accidental.
Marianne Skolek, then a part-time nurse in the oncology unit at Somerset
Medical Center, had other words to describe her daughter's death. Preventable.
Unwarranted. Senseless.
Jill wasn't a cancer patient. She had a herniated disc in her back. To
Marianne Skolek, this was more than a case of someone being prescribed
a highly addictive drug. It was a matter of a money-making pharmaceutical
company simultaneously miss-marketing and mass-marketing a dangerous narcotic.
And she dedicated her life to proving the company as criminal.
On May 10, victory came from Skolek and other affected families who took
on the same fight. A division of Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of OxyContin,
and three top executives pleaded guilty to misleading the public in promoting
the drug as a less addictive painkiller. As part of the federal plea,
they were ordered to pay a combined $634.5 million in fines.
Sentencing is scheduled for July 20 in Roanoke, Va. Skolek is hoping she
has a chance to say her peace to those three executives. And her work
won't be done after that.
Understanding the drug
OxyContin was introduced to the market in 1996 as relief for millions
of chronic pain sufferers. In its manufactured pill form, it's prescribed
as a time-release painkiller.
Buoyed by the approval of the federal Food and Drug Administration, the
Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma originally claimed the time-release of
oxycodone made the pill less addictive. But even before being linked to
celebrities Courtney Love and Rush Limbaugh, OxyContin started gaining
notoriety for its addictiveness.
With one 40 milligram table equaling eight Percocet, many overdosed not
knowing the drug's potency or had strong withdrawal symptoms once they
stopped taking it.
Addicts also found they would get a greater high by crushing the pill
before ingesting. On the street, the drug earned the nickname "Hillbilly
Heroin."
By 2002, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration said OxyContin caused
146 deaths and contributed to 318 more. Jill Skolek, who took OxyContin
for four months, was one of a growing group.
"It took me a couple of months of research to realize the pharmaceutical
company needed to be looked into," Skolek said. "When I got home from
work, I took it upon myself to research things and make connections to
people who became invaluable to me. So it was relatively early that I
determined the company was criminal."
A mother's crusade
As she mounted her own investigation into the dangers of OxyContin, Skolek
sought strength in numbers. She aligned with Chelly Griffith, a mother
from Iowa who also was prescribed the drug for a herniated disc and wound
up shaking, sweating and addicted after forgetting to take one 20 milligram
pill. They spoke before the U.S. Senate and to anyone else who would listen.
Skolek would also set up a Web site -- www.oxydeaths.com
But after reaching out to all kinds of public officials, including all
50 state attorneys general offices, she found a most receptive audience
with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Virginia.
It was beginning to launch what would become a five-year federal investigation,
perhaps influenced by the number of lawsuits filed against -- and lost
to -- Purdue Pharma. In 2003, in fact, a company released boasted the
headline: "65-0: OxyContin cases against Purdue Pharma dismissed at a
record rate."
"I called them at one point telling them I thought it was in very bad
taste to call them an OxyContin victory and to gloat over it," she said.
"They eventually did take them off of their Web site."
Purdue Pharma was staving off these individual lawsuits because causation
needed to be proved, specifically that a plaintiff's suffering was the
result of the defendant's actions.
But that wasn't the case with the government bringing charges. It had
nine state and federal agencies assisting, a federal grand jury and numerous
subpoenas.
"I don't know if it was fate or divine intervention, but I was dealing
with Attorney General's office in Virginia almost from the first day,"
Skolek added. "I was led right to them and they did the job."
Guilty plea
Federal prosecutors made the following findings before arranging a plea
agreement with Purdue Pharma for the felony charge of illegally "misbranding"
OxyContin between the years of 1996 and 2001:
The company deliberately mislead regulators, doctors and patients about
the drug's risks. It only "believed" that time-released OxyContin reduced
its potential for abuse, but dispatched sales representatives to tell
health-care providers that it was based on conclusive evidence.
It fabricated phony scientific charts to support its claims. It told doctors
that it was less addictive than opiates, morphine, Percocet and Vicodin.
"In the process, scores died as a result of OxyContin abuse and an even
greater number became addicted," U.S. Attorney John L. Brownlee of the
Western District of Virginia said. "ven in the face of warnings from health-care
professionals, the media and members of its own sales force, Purdue continued
to push a fraudulent marketing campaign."
Continuing fight
While grateful for the ruling, Skolek said the penalties should be more
severe. She is unhappy the federal arrangement penalized a division of
Purdue Pharma, called the Purdue Frederick Co. Inc. As a result, Purdue
Pharma maintains its ability to receive Medicare and Medicaid payments.
The financial impact of the $634.5 million penalty has also come into
question, since there has been an estimated $9.6 billion in OxyContin
sales from 2000 to 2006. In addition, Skolek is requesting in another
letter campaign to U.S. attorney generals that Chief Executive Michael
Friedman, General Counsel Howard Udell and former Chief Scientific Officer
Paul Goldenheim -- who each pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of
misbranding -- to serve some jail time as well as lose their certification
in their respective fields.
The settlement called for no prison time to be served. But there is always
the outside chance the judge can overturn the decision during the July
20 hearing in Roanoke.
"I don't think they should be able to be gainfully employed in the pharmaceutical
industry," she said. "And I will take over my efforts for a plea for some
prison time because I hold them directly responsible for Jill's death.
"She would be alive today if it wasn't for what they did," she added.
"And there are thousands of addicted people living horrible lives because
of the mistruths they peddled about the drug."
In a statement, Purdue Pharma said the officials who pleaded guilty "neither
engaged in nor tolerated the misconduct at issue in this investigation"
and "they took steps to prevent any misstatements in the marketing or
promotion of OxyContin and to correct any such misstatements of which
they became aware."
Skolek is also after the FDA to have a warning using the word "addictive"
on OxyContin bottles. Currently, it only notes that the drug has "an abuse
liability similar to morphine."
She plans on writing a book about her journey and the dangers of the drug,
as well. Skolek also received word from Brownlee on May 22 that Brian
will be able to be in the courtroom on July 20. Skolek, who knows no other
parent who lost their child to prescribed OxyContin, will be joined by
others connected to those addicted to the drug. She is optimistic her
voice will be heard in the hearing.
"Brian should definitely be there to see justice at work and he needs
to see that bad things happen to bad people," she said. "There's more
that has to be done because this can't be allowed to happen again. No
mother ever expects they're going to lose a child, and no little boy should
have to come home by himself and find his mother dead in a bed."
