Risperdal lawsuits continue to plague Johnson & Johnson
Staff Writer |
Johnson & Johnson and its Janssen Pharmaceuticals subsidiary continue to face legal claims over gynecomastia and other side effects allegedly associated with Risperdal.
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According to a May 8th filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), at least 16,900 Risperdal lawsuits are now pending in courts throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Cases involving the antipsychotic medication continues to be filed, prompting Johnson & Johnson to establish an accrual with respect to the litigation.
"Our firm has been representing Risperdal plaintiffs for several years, and we continue to receive inquiries from men and boys who allegedly experienced excessive breast growth due to treatment with this medication.
"We are not surprised that cases of this nature are still being filed, and expect this trend to continue," said Sandy A. Liebhard, a partner at Bernstein Liebhard LLP, a nationwide law firm representing the victims of defective drugs and medical devices.
The firm continues to provide free legal reviews to men and boys who allegedly experienced excessive breast growth due to their use of the antipsychotic medication.
Risperdal is an atypical antipsychotic medication that is currently approved to treat adult and adolescent schizophrenia, bipolar disorder in adults and children ages 10-to-17, and irritability in children (5-to-16 years of age) with autistic disorder.
Plaintiffs pursuing Risperdal lawsuits over gynecomastia claim that Johnson & Johnson and Janssen concealed data indicating that the medication could cause excessive breast growth in male patients, and failed to provide the public with appropriate warnings regarding this risk.
They also claim that the companies wrongly marketed Risperdal to treat children long before U.S. regulators approved the drug for any pediatric indications in 2006.
One of the country's largest Risperdal litigations is currently underway in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas in Pennsylvania, where more than 5,700 claims are now pending.
The Pennsylvania litigation has convened seven Risperdal gynecomastia trials since early 2015, four of which concluded with decisions for plaintiffs and verdicts ranging from $500,000 to $70 million.
Confidential Risperdal settlements have also been reached in some cases just prior to trial. ■