A federal judge in Cincinnati has dismissed the nation's first lawsuit against the makers of OxyContin.

U.S. District Judge S. Arthur Spiegel threw out the suit after the Ohio family that brought the charges last year agreed they did not have a strong enough case to continue.

The family of Jackie Burton, of McDermott, Ohio, had claimed that she died of an overdose because the manufacturer of the pain killer did not adequately warn users of the risk of addiction.

The suit was the first of dozens filed across the country against the manufacturer, Purdue Pharma. Two federal class-action lawsuits are pending in Ohio and Kentucky, and another class-action suit is pending in state court in Butler County.

Officials at Purdue Pharma praised the dismissal and said they are confident other lawsuits against the company will end the same way.

“The plaintiffs have chosen to abandon their lawsuit rather than face having to prove their claims in court,” said Howard R. Udell, executive vice president of Purdue Pharma. “We believe that their decision ... speaks volumes about the lack of merit of these kinds of lawsuits.”

The attorney for the Burton family, Joe Hale, said the company is wrong to declare victory. He said it's difficult for a single plaintiff to prevail against a large company.

Mr. Hale said the Burton case was dropped for several reasons, including the death of a key witness in June and poor record-keeping by the doctor who prescribed OxyContin to Ms. Burton.

The company may have more trouble defending itself against claims in the class-action lawsuits, which include many defendants and lawyers, Mr. Hale said.

“Purdue will ultimately pay a heavy price for the destruction caused by their reckless handling of a dangerous product,” Mr. Hale said.

E-mail dhorn@enquirer.com

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