It was wrong for a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary to market the antipsychotic Risperdal to youth prior to FDA approval of such use. It was even worse to market the drug devoid of proper warnings about Risperdal and gynecomastia, which is the development of female-like breasts in males.
Gynecomastia is a potential side effect of Risperdal in male children who use the drug. As a result of Johnson & Johnson’s off-label marketing of the drug and the drug maker’s failure to post adequate warnings, hundreds of Risperdal lawsuits have been filed.
Most of those Risperdal lawsuits are being adjudicated by a state court in Philadelphia, where Risperdal victims can still file suit. But the opportunity to seek compensation does not last forever.
Young males who used Risperdal and who have been diagnosed with gynecomastia are better off not contemplating at length whether to seek counsel and to pursue justice.
The experienced product liability attorneys at Reich & Binstock are the type of advocates that young men in this population can count on to fight hard for the victims’ rights to compensation while a case is still viable.
Sufferers of Risperdal gynecomastia have experienced a stigma as horrifying as the side effect itself. They took a drug that the manufacturer represented as safe, which clearly it was not for male youth. Allegedly, Johnson & Johnson either knew or should have known about Risperdal gynecomastia and should have put up the stop sign for young male use of the drug.
Instead, the manufacturer seemingly chose profits over patient safety and marketed Risperdal to children. The result was abhorrent.
J&J was backed into a corner and practically had little choice but to admit its lapse in judgment, agreeing in November 2013 to pay $2.2 billion in criminal and civil penalties arising from its marketing practices with respect to Risperdal and two other J&J drugs. The government’s complaint alleged that J&J marketed Risperdal to children from 1999 through 2005. The FDA, which originally approved Risperdal in 1993, had not cleared the drug for use in adolescents until 2007, according to FDA documents.
Does J&J deserve to get away with this? If you are a young man who has suffered from Risperdal gynecomastia, then think about this question. Then, get a free consultation from one of the product liability attorneys at Reich & Binstock. Above all things, don’t wait too long to decide to right the wrong. Reich & Binstock can help you now. Call toll-free.
