This is a rare bit of good news for Johnson & Johnson. The healthcare giant succeeded earlier this week in convincing a judge to toss a lawsuit brought by Pennsvylvania officials, who charged the drugmaker hid side effects risks associated with its Risperdal antipsychotic and, consequently, fooled the state into paying millions more than they should have for the medicine.
This is potentially significant for J&J because the Pennsylvania case was the first of 10 such state lawsuits concerning Risperdal marketing to make it to a jury. Testimony had already been provided for a week before a judge in Philadelphia granted J&J’s request to throw out the suit after finding the state hadn’t produced enough evidence of improper marketing, Bloomberg News reports. Last year, however, a West Virginia judge ordered J&J to pay $4 million over a similar charge.
Pennsylvania sought to recover $289 million in alleged overcharges tied to prescriptions covered by state programs. The ruling means state law might not provide a basis for recovering damages for defrauded public programs, according to Fletch Trammell, a lawyer who represented Pennsylvania. “If this ruling stands, it would mean that the state could be the victim of the largest of frauds and have no means of recovery,” he tells Bloomberg. J&J also faces hundreds of lawsuits filed by consumers, who claims Risperdal risks were downplayed (background here and here).
8 Comments
What a farce! This news is outrageous! These atypical anti-psychotics, with their whole host of safety issues, have been marketed off-label for years. Other than in truly psychotic individuals, they have very little in the way of demonstarted efficacy without safety concerns. They never should have been prescribed as often has they were, but the pharma marketing machines knew when they had a cash cow. They never should have been used to snow the elderly in nursing homes. They never should have been marketed for use in the young. One has to wonder what in the world convinced the judge to rule in thsi way, other than some very expensive corporate lawyers! Were there any conflicts of interest here?
Once again, corporate America triumphs over the general public! It's good to be KING!
Joseph Biederman, investigated ala Nemeroff by Grassley for non-disclosed pharma income trialed RISPERDAL in 5 year olds and gave a deposition where he called himself "GOD".
Corporations and corruption, lack of ethics is par for the course and children and innocent victims who were injured on Risperdal have no voice.
These companies profit at the expense of our health and the FDA, Insel, all of it is all connected to PhRMA.
We do not stand a snowball's chance in hell in this all for profit evil regime! Sorry, but that's the truth!
There's links to that Biederman Risperdal depo somewhere online, I think InVivo had it up.
Yes! What a farce! I've been remembering this for seven years, ever since they gave my 93-year-old dad the "baby-sitting" drug Risperdal (used in hospitals because of the lack of nursing staff). He got five of the seven side effects from it and had to be put away. Didn't want him to suffer anymore. God rest his soul!
BTW let's compare this to AstraZeneca's Seroquel lawsuits, antipsychotic giving people diabetes and weight gain, and Judges tossing out cases though the internal evidence PROVES AZ knew the information while marketing the drug, and received a hand slap of $520 million dollar fine from the DOJ, yet the drug is STILL on the market, and now due to marketing tactics again---is being touted as an anti-depressant, when in fact it's the same sorry antipsychotic that does not work for Schizophrenia, so it's being pimped out as a cure all for insomnia and "treatment resistent depression".
Risperdal was given to my 11 year old in 1999 not approved for use in children, by a quack doctor.
Risperdal is also popular as a chemical restraint, sadly for behavior control in Autistic children.
The Judge's in these cases are complete idiots.
As has been witnessed and evidenced repetitively, the deity of doctor-hood, academia, and science are not shown to be immune from the spoils and addiction related to greed, status, and corruption.
I'm sure as we sit back watching this streaming money conduit of influence running through those not so hallowed halls of Congress, tracking a burdensome path that slithers through one regulatory body after another, and in taking so much as a momentary pause, boastfully meandering through even the ominous sacrosanct doors of the White House.
Would it really come as a tremendous surprise to anyone that the courts and their steward judges entrusted with keeping the scales of justice balanced and true, are at some future juncture in time also found to be drawn into and tainted by the ever tempting lure & lust this (and other) Mega Industry's "To Big" to be held accountable hold out to them from within an ever growing wealthy poisoned lair.
I would put forward that little shock and awe will be felt when this curtain of a modern day preformed Greek tragedy is torn back to quite possibly depict one very disturbing scene where the task master is shown tugging forcefully upon outstretched and taunt reins as the now submitted “rule of law” cowards before its unremitting/tenuous beckoning and call.
Just a thought-
Ms.Piggy, have you ever considered a speech writing career? lol
Yes, Ms. Piggy, well done.