Johnson & Johnson to pay over $2 billion to settle Risperdal investigations

By Joe Carlson
Modern Healthcare
Posted: November 4, 2013

In the largest-ever legal settlement for sales of a single drug, Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay more than $2 billion and plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of misbranding to end long-running investigations of its sales tactics involving Risperdal.

The New Brunswick, N.J.-based company and subsidiaries Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Scios told investors in August 2011 that they had agreed to settle allegations that J&J promoted its anti-psychotic Risperdal for off-label uses. On Thursday, company officials are scheduled to plead guilty in federal court.

The entire story is here.

Johnson & Johnson Unit Settles State Cases Over Risperdal

By Katie Thomas
The New York Times - Business Day
Originally published August 30, 2012

Johnson & Johnson announced Thursday that its pharmaceutical unit had reached a $181 million consumer fraud settlement with 36 states and the District of Columbia over its marketing of Risperdal, an antipsychotic drug.

The company’s pharmaceuticals subsidiary, Janssen, has been under scrutiny for years over its promotion of Risperdal, which treats symptoms of bipolar mania and schizophrenia. State and federal authorities have said that Janssen promoted the drug for uses it did not have approval for, including dementia in elderly patients, bipolar disorder in children and adolescents, depression and anxiety. Prosecutors have also accused the company of minimizing or concealing the risks associated with the drug.

In resolving the allegations by the states, Janssen did not admit wrongdoing or that it violated the law and said it settled to avoid “unnecessary expense and a prolonged legal process.”

The entire article is here.

J.&J. Fined $1.2 Billion in Drug Case

By Katie Thomas
The New York Times
Originally published April 11, 2012

A judge in Arkansas ordered Johnson & Johnson and a subsidiary to pay more than $1.2 billion in fines on Wednesday, a day after a jury found that the companies had minimized or concealed the dangers associated with an antipsychotic drug.

The fine, which experts said ranked among the largest on record for a state fraud case involving a drug company, is the most recent in a string of legal losses for Johnson & Johnson related to its marketing of the drug, Risperdal.

In January, Texas settled a similar case with the subsidiary, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, for $158 million. Last year, a South Carolina judge levied civil penalties of $327 million against Janssen, and in 2010, a Louisiana jury awarded nearly $258 million in damages.

The entire story is here.

Here is a prior story about Johnson and Johnson with Risperdal.