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Law firm of Gulas & Stuckey prepares for next trial against Johnson & Johnson
Hendelson family praises jury's $5.5 million verdict

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., June 20, 2007 - The law firm of Gulas & Stuckey, which represented the family of Adam Hendelson in a three year long legal battle with Johnson & Johnson that ended Tuesday, is preparing to take the next Duragesic lawsuit to trial late this summer.

The Hendelson family sued Johnson & Johnson subsidiaries Janssen Pharmaceutica Products, LP, and ALZA Corp. over Adam's death on Dec. 17, 2003. Adam died due to an overdose of the drug fentanyl when the Duragesic patch he wore due to chronic hip pain leaked.

The father of 28-year-old Adam Hendelson cried with his family outside the courtroom immediately following the federal jury's verdict which found the Duragesic patch to have been at fault for his son's death.

Gulas & Stuckey, his attorneys, have eight cases pending trial and more yet to be filed. Mr. Hendelson urges those families to speak up for their family members who are now silent.

"No amount of money is a comfort for the void left forever in our hearts," Mr. Hendelson said.

Ike Gulas of Gulas & Stuckey said Tuesday's verdict sets a precedent for upcoming trials. Dozens have been filed nationwide involving Duragesic, which was Johnson & Johnson's No. 6 seller in 2006. The case was only the second to go to trial and the first to enter federal court. The first was tried in Houston, Texas, in 2006, and a state jury found in favor of the plaintiff and ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay the family $772,500. Gulas & Stuckey will take the next case to trial in Augusta, Ga., late this summer.

"We're going to fight relentlessly for each of these families," Gulas said. "The manufacturers of Duragesic failed each of them by allowing an enormously powerful drug onto the market despite its potential to malfunction."

Duragesic has been under attack since February of 2004 when Janssen issued a recall of one manufacturing lot after determining that some patches in that lot might leak along one edge. In April of the same year the company expanded the recall to include five lots - about 2.2 million patches.

The recall resulted in ongoing investigation by the Food and Drug Administration. More information about the FDA investigation is available at www.fda.gov.

According to the manufacturer, Duragesic patches "contain a strong opiate in the form of a gel." The recall release from Janssen reads that "exposure to too much medication can occur

if the gel leaks directly onto the skin" and that "overexposure may cause potentially lifethreatening complications."

Adam Hendelson died sitting at his computer while working on his resume. He had more than three times the lethal dosage of fentanyl in his system.

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