Lawsuit Filed Against Copley Over Albuterol

A lawsuit has been filed in the USA against Copley Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Hoechst, claiming that contamination of its asthma medication albuterol with the bacterium Pseudomonas flourescens caused the death of 40 people, including eight children.

The suit is for $100 million in punitive damages, plus actual damages. The claim is the biggest outside the Federal Court where a class action suit based on more than 36 suits is pending.

Albuterol was withdrawn from sale in January last year after contamination of the product with the bacterium, a generally benign strain found in tap water, was discovered.