Arkansas Supreme Court reverses $1.2B judgement against J&J over Risperdal marketing

On Thursday, Johnson & Johnson was able to win a reversal of a $1.2 billion judgement over the improper marketing of the anti-psychotic drug Risperdal. The Arkansas Supreme Court declared that the jury verdict against the company could not been supported as the state of Arkansas, who has filed the lawsuit, brought the case under a law that covers health-care facilities. Reuters said J&J and its Janssen Pharmaceuticals unit are drug companies.

According to a Dallas News report, the state ought legal action against Janssen, and essentially J&J over allegations that the companies did not communicate the drug's risks properly and had marketed the drug for off-label use. Arkansas had said in the suit that such corporate practices were deemed fraudulent in nature.

Dallas News said tht Risperdal was introduced as a "second-generation" anti-psychotic drug in 1994, and had been used to treat irritability, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in patients with autism. The drug reportedly earned J&J billions of dollars ahead of the availability of the drug's generic versions later.

J&J and Janssen were sued by Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel in 2007 and claimed that the companies have downplayed and hidden the risks associated with taking the drug and had knowingly lied to doctors about its side effects for years. Reuters said that Risperdal and other anti-psychotic treatments had been known to generate weight gain, diabetes and strokes to patients who have taken it.

The New Jersey-based companies were found guilty by an Arkansas jury in 2012, with Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox ordering the companies to shell out $5,000 each of the 240,000 prescription of Risperdal the state Medicaid program had paid for in three and a half years. Fox also imposed a $2,500 fine for each of the over 4,500 letters Janssen had sent to doctors saying that the side effects were nothing to be worried about, Dallas News said.

Despite the reversal of the verdict on the lawsuit filed by the city of Arkansas, J&J and Janssen are still facing lawsuits filed in the South Carolina Supreme Court for similar charges, the local online paper said.

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J&J Risperdal lawsuit, Janssen Pharmaceuticals

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