Risperdal Litigation Meeting scheduled for September in Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.
Numerous Risperdal pharmaceutical litigation (lawsuits) have been filed that allege gynecomastia, or male breast development, due to prescribed use of the drug.
August 16, 2014 via prweb.
A Risperdal meeting is scheduled to take place next month in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, where hundreds of lawsuits over the antipsychotic medication are continuing to move forward,
According to a Calendar posted on the Court’s website, parties involved in the consolidated Pennsylvania litigation will convene on September 16th at 2:00 p.m. to discuss pharmaceutical litigation filed against Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Items likely to be included on the meeting’s agenda will be cases that allege new-onset male breast development caused by the medication, a condition referred to as gynecomastia. Court documents in the proceeding reflect nearly 700 cases involving Risperdal now filed in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, many of which claim the need for a mastectomy, liposuction and other surgical intervention to repair the male breast growth complications was allegedly caused by use of Risperdal. (In Re: Risperdal Litigation, Case Number 100300296)
Risperdal Lawsuits Risperdal is an atypical antipsychotic medication approved to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in adults and adolescents between the ages of 10 and 17. The drug is also cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat irritability in children ages 5-to-16 years old with autistic disorder. According to research, Risperdal is also frequently prescribed off-label for symptoms associated with ADHD.
As Risperdal lawsuits alleging male gynecomastia continue to be filed in the Philadelphia Common Pleas, a report published this month lends evidence to the association between Risperdal and this particular complication. According to a study published on August 6th in the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, 27 out of 174 men exposed to risperidone, the active ingredient in Risperdal, developed male breasts within 60 days. The research was led by scientists from the University of British Columbia and involved health records of more than 82,000 men from 2001 to 2011. The men were aged between 40 and 85 years old.*
According to Risperdal lawsuits filed in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, Johnson & Johnson and Janssen failed to adequately warn men and their doctors about the risk for gynecomastia and other side effects. The companies have also been accused of marketing the drug for off-label uses.
In November 2013, Johnson & Johnson agreed to a $2.5 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice involving claims that Risperdal and several other medications were promoted for uses not approved by the FDA. In the case for Risperdal, this may involve promotion of the drug’s marketing in children before it was cleared for pediatric uses in 2006. The federal government also accused Johnson & Johnson and Janssen of withholding information about Risperdal’s side effects, which may include its association with gynecomastia.
Men and young boys who developed gynecomastia after taking Risperdal may be eligible to file a lawsuit seeking compensation for out-of-pocket medical expenses, lost wages, as well as any pain and suffering that may have resulted from use of the medication.
Originally posted on prweb.com by Bernstein Liebhard
