HAMILTON — A lawyer representing the maker of OxyContin defended the drug Thursday as “truly one of the splendid medications of the past 20 years” and said it should be challenged by one user at a time, not in a class-action lawsuit.

        David Cupps, a Columbus attorney speaking on behalf of Purdue Pharma LP, made the remarks in a hearing before Butler County Common Pleas Judge Michael J. Sage.

        A team of lawyers, including Cincinnati's Stan Chesley, filed a lawsuit seeking class-action status against Purdue Pharma and other defendants who made, marketed, sold and distributed OxyContin. That lawsuit, filed in Butler County last year, is one of at least two dozen lawsuits filed nationwide.

        The Chesley team wants to represent patients who they say never should have received prescriptions for OxyContin. They contend aggressive marketing encouraged doctors to rely on it in inappropriate medical circumstances.

        Patients with severe chronic pain, such as that associated with cancer, have been known to benefit from the drug. But Mr. Chesley's team contends that Purdue's marketers pushed its use for patients who lacked such severe symptoms.

        Mr. Cupps, however, argues, “Addiction is not an expected feature of OxyContin.”

        He said factors that lead to addiction can vary widely among patients — including how they used the drug, whether they heeded warnings and whether they had a previous history of substance abuse. Therefore, he said, it's too hard to define these patients in a single “class.”

        He cited a judge's decision filed Tuesday, denying class status to an OxyContin suit filed in Clay County, Ky. The decision filed in U.S. District Court in London, Ky., says the proposed class-action suit failed to meet legal standards.

        More than two dozen lawyers are involved in the Butler County hearing, which began Wednesday.

        After the hearing's conclusion, the lawyers will have two weeks to file additional materials for Judge Sage to consider.

        A trial date is tentatively set for October.

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