July 18, 2017 — There are now over 5,800 Risperdal lawsuits pending in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas accusing Johnson & Johnson of failing to warn about the risk of gynecomastia.
Gynecomastia is a disfiguring side effect of Risperdal in which young boys grow female breast tissue. Treatment usually involves surgery.
Johnson & Johnson is facing thousands of lawsuits nationwide, but a growing number are now centralized at the state-level in Philadelphia, where the number of lawsuits skyrocketed by 185% since January.
In 2017, the Risperdal mass-tort in Philadelphia doubled in size with over 3,600 new lawsuits, and it is on track to triple in size by 2018, according to the The Legal Intelligencer.
Johnson & Johnson is accused of of illegally marketing Risperdal for unapproved “off-label” uses in children. As a result, many children grew female breasts and required surgery. Lawyers say the drug-maker told doctors the risk of gynecomastia was only about 2% when they knew the actual risk for young boys on Risperdal was about 5%.
Juries have returned several multi-million dollar verdicts in favor of boys who were diagnosed with gynecomastia. In July 2016, a jury awarded $70 million to a 5 year-old boy from Tennessee who grew breasts. In 2015, there were three verdicts for $500,000, $1.75 million, and $2.5 million. Other cases ended in confidential settlements.
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