CHICAGO, Nov. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC announces that the United States District Court Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division approved the following announcement of a proposed class action settlement that would benefit purchasers of publicly-traded securities of Acura Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ACUR:

TO: ALL PERSONS AND ENTITIES WHO PURCHASED OR OTHERWISE ACQUIRED THE PUBLICLY-TRADED SECURITIES OF ACURA PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. ("ACURA PHARMACEUTICALS") (TRADING SYMBOL NASDAQ:ACUR) BETWEEN FEBRUARY 21, 2006, AND APRIL 22, 2010, INCLUSIVE:

YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED, pursuant to an Order of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, that a hearing will be held on February 16, 2012 at 9:15 a.m., before the Honorable Virginia M. Kendall at the Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Courthouse, 219 South Dearborn Street, Courtroom 2319, Chicago, IL 60604, for the purpose of determining: (1) whether the proposed Class(1) can be certified for settlement purposes only, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23; (2) whether the proposed Settlement for the sum of $1,500,000 in cash should be approved by the Court as fair, reasonable and adequate; (3) whether, after the hearing, this Action should be dismissed with prejudice pursuant to the terms and conditions set forth in the Stipulation and Settlement dated as of October 31, 2011; (4) whether the Plan of Allocation is fair, reasonable and adequate and should be approved; and (5) whether the application of Lead Counsel for the payment of attorneys' fees and reimbursement of expenses incurred in this Action should be approved.

If you purchased or otherwise acquired the publicly-traded common stock of Acura Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Acura Pharmaceuticals") (trading symbol NASDAQ:ACUR) between February 21, 2006, and April 22, 2010, inclusive, or purchased or otherwise acquired call options on the common stock of Acura Pharmaceuticals between February 21, 2006, and April 22, 2010, inclusive, or sold or otherwise disposed of put options on the common stock of Acura Pharmaceuticals between February 21, 2006, and April 22, 2010, inclusive, your rights may be affected by the Settlement of this Action. If you have not received a detailed Notice of Pendency of Class Action and Proposed Settlement with all Defendants, Motion for Attorneys' Fees and Settlement Fairness Hearing ("Notice") and a copy of the Proof of Claim and Release ("Claim Form"), you should obtain copies by writing to In re Acura Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Securities Litigation, c/o Strategic Claims Services at P.O. Box 230, 600 N. Jackson Street, Suite 3, Media, PA 19063 or by visiting the website of the Claims Administrator at www.strategicclaims.net. The Notice contains details about this Action and Settlement, including what you must do to exclude yourself from the Settlement, object to the terms of the Settlement, or file a Claim Form. If you are a Class Member, in order to share in the distribution of the Net Settlement Fund, you must submit a Claim Form and Release postmarked no later than March 19, 2012, establishing that you are entitled to recovery.

If you desire to be excluded from the Class, you must submit a Request for Exclusion postmarked by February 2, 2012, in the manner and form explained in the detailed Notice referred to above. All Class Members who have not timely and validly requested exclusion from the Class will be bound by any judgment entered in the Action pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Stipulation. Your objection must be postmarked on or before February 2, 2012 and mailed to the Court; Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC, Lead Counsel for Lead Plaintiff and the Class; and Counsel for the Defendants at the following addresses:

COURT:

FOR LEAD PLAINTIFF:

FOR DEFENDANTS:

PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT THE COURT OR THE CLERK'S OFFICE REGARDING THIS NOTICE. If you have any questions about the Settlement, you may contact Lead Counsel for Lead Plaintiffs and the Class at the address listed above.

(1) All capitalized terms not otherwise defined in this document shall have the meaning provided in the stipulation of Settlement, dated October 31, 2011.

Contact:
Strategic Claims Services
(610) 565-9202
Fax: (610) 565-7985
600 N. Jackson Street, Suite 3
Media, PA 19063

SOURCE Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC