In an order issued on August 29, 2018, Judge Lorna Schofield stated that the jury found no valid evidence in the allegations by a plaintiff that Janssen Pharmaceuticals is liable for design defects in their antipsychotic drug Risperdal.
The plaintiff began Risperdal consumption as a 10-year-old in 2003 to treat depression, aggression, and impulsive behavior. A year later he was diagnosed with gynecomastia, the development of glandular breast tissue in males. Though he discontinued it soon after, over the next 10 years he was again prescribed the medicine to treat his behavioral issues. The plaintiff filed a lawsuit in 2014 against Janssen and other drug companies over negligence, strict products liability, manufacturing defect, failure to warn, breach of express warranty, breach of an implied warranty, fraudulent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment, and negligent misrepresentation. However, the New York federal jury denied claims that the Risperdal the plaintiff used deviated from Janssen’s intended design, or that the plaintiff relied solely on any misrepresentation by Janssen.
Janssen and its parent company J&J face over 7,000 Risperdal product liability lawsuits filed in the Pennsylvania State Court. Two coordinated actions have been filed for Risperdal cases: one in Los Angeles Superior Court (Risperdal and Invega Product Liability Cases, JCCP 4775) and the other in Philadelphia (In Re: Risperdal Litigation, March 2010 Term, Case No. 100300296).
