A New Jersey man who overdosed on stolen drugs at a party will receive a total of $4.1 million in the settlement of a lawsuit against the pharmacy from which the drugs were stolen, the homeowner where the party took place and participants at the party who did not call 911.

In 2007, Scott Simon, then 17, attended a party and took Xanax provided to him by an ex-employee of Harding Pharmacy.  The Xanax was stolen from the pharmacy.  In a lawsuit filed against the above-named parties, Simon claims he fell into a coma at the party and wound up suffering permanent nerve damage.  As part of a settlement agreement, Harding Pharmacy will pay Simon $1.9 million.

"In this case, the pharmacy was the victim - not the plaintiff, who made a decision to ingest stolen drugs,” said Marcus Rayner, New Jersey Lawsuit Reform Alliance’s executive director. “Yet it is the pharmacy that is being denied justice by today's legal system and the drug user who is benefiting from it.”

—Source: Ridgewood-GlenRock Patch (NJ); ridgewood.patch.com