In an order issued on September 30, 2018, Judge Donald Cabell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, allowed the plaintiff to replead his negligent failure-to-warn claims linked to Risperdal side-effects. However, claims of consumer law violations, fraudulent concealment, and design defect against defendants Janssen Research & Development and Johnson & Johnson were dismissed.
The plaintiff started consuming Risperdal medication in 2007 to treat his personality disorder; however, he developed gynecomastia (increased breast tissue) and tremors as an alleged side-effect of the drug. Even after stopping the medication in 2016, the gynecomastia condition still prevailed.
More than 14,000 lawsuits have been filed over the drugs' gynecomastia side-effect. 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).
Last month, a $1 million Risperdal verdict was overturned indicating that the failure-to-warn claim made by a man against Janssen Pharmaceuticals stays preempted since the federal law bars the company from adding a gynecomastia warning label. The federal judge also stated that the ruling was passed considering the plaintiff's attorney's "inappropriate conduct" evident from his defensive tone of voice during the court hearing.
