Logandale man sues over liver damage

A Logandale man is suing a Las Vegas doctor, an Overton pharmacy and a Pennsylvania-based drug manufacturer, claiming he was prescribed a drug that destroyed his liver and later was pulled from the market.

Billy David Storey, the father of 11, and his wife Connie filed the suit Thursday in Clark County District Court claiming that the doctor, pharmacist and drug-maker were negligent in Storey receiving the pain killer Duract.

"Billy is going to the LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City and hoping to get on the nationwide list to get a liver," Storey's Las Vegas attorney Edward Achrem said after filing the suit.

"He now is on the regional liver transplant wait list. His days could be numbered."

Houston attorney Zoe Littlepage, who Achrem says also is experienced in health negligence cases, has joined him as co-counsel.

Named in the suit as defendants are Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories of St. Davids, Pa., a division of American Home Products Corp., which also is named in the suit; Dr. James Thomas of Las Vegas; Lin's Marketplace and Lin's Pharmacy in Overton; and several defendants who are not yet known to the plaintiffs.

The suit seeks in excess of $10,000 in damages. In Nevada, astronomical sums cannot be listed in complaints to attempt to gain news media coverage. At trial, however, millions of dollars can be sought for injured people.

Douglas Petkus, spokesman for Wyeth-Ayerst, said his company has not yet seen the lawsuit. He said it is his company's policy not to comment on pending litigation.

Thomas, through a spokesperson, said he has not yet been served with the suit and thus cannot comment on it at this time.

Attempts to reach Lin's was not successful. The telephone company had no listing for a Lin's Marketplace or Lin's Pharmacy in Overton, Logandale or elsewhere in Moapa Valley.

The 22-page complaint alleges Thomas prescribed Storey 90 Duract pills on Nov. 19, 1997, for back pain and that Lin's Pharmacy filled the prescription. Storey took the drug two to three times a day for one to two months, the suit says.

In January 1998 Storey became "severely ill with flu-like symptoms, pain in the abdomen ... chronic gas and weight loss. ... (He) was thereafter medically diagnosed with severe and permanent liver damage," the suit says.

"Billy has further been advised that that the permanent liver damage (was) caused by the Duract he had taken," the suit says.

The suit seeks damages for Storey and for his wife, who is claiming "loss of companionship, love, society, consortium and loss of earning capacity due to his serious illness."

The suit further alleges that Duract was approved by the Federal Drug Administration just for "short term management of pain, generally less than 10 days."

The suit says that on Feb. 10, 1998, Wyeth-Ayerst and American Home Products changed Duract's product label to warn of the potential for liver damage. Duract was taken off the market in June of 1998, the suit says.

The suit alleges that Wyeth-Ayerst and American Home Products "informed physicians, including ... Dr. James Thomas during promotional meetings and conventions that using Duract was safe and effective, including use of the drug for more than 10 days."

The suit alleges that Thomas "never conducted any monitoring testing on Billy, nor did he check Billy's liver enzymes. Dr. Thomas knew, or should have known, that use of this drug for more than 10 days was harmful, unsafe and potentially very dangerous."

The suit says pharmacists at Lin's Pharmacy filled a prescription that "was clearly in excess of the recommended 10-day duration."