Jury awards $8 Billion in punitive damages against Johnson & Johnson
Jury awards $8 Billion in punitive damages against Johnson & Johnson
On Tuesday, October 8, 2019, a Philadelphia jury hit a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, with an $8 billion punitive damages verdict over its marketing of the anti-psychotic drug Risperdal. In doing so, the jury sided with the plaintiff who argued that the health care giant downplayed risks that the drug could lead to breast growth in boys.
The plaintiff sued the company in 2013 alleging that he grew breasts, a condition known as gynecomastia, after he was prescribed Risperdal at age 9 to treat symptoms of autism. The lawsuit accused Janssen of failing to warn doctors about Risperdal’s risks while improperly marketing it as a treatment for mental health disorders in children.
The verdict was the first to award punitive damages against the company for such conduct. (There are thousands of other Risperdal lawsuits pending.) Compensatory damages of $680,000 were previously awarded to the plaintiff in this action in March 2016.
Johnson & Johnson said it intends to appeal the award, you can read their statement here.
Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP focuses on complex civil litigation, including securities, antitrust, wage and hour and consumer class actions as well as shareholder derivative and merger and transactional litigation. The firm is headquartered in New York, and maintains offices in Atlanta, Los Angeles and Philadelphia.
Since its founding in 1995, Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP has served as lead or co-lead counsel in numerous high-profile cases which ultimately provided significant recoveries to investors, direct purchasers, consumers and employees.
To schedule a free consultation with our attorneys and to learn more about your legal rights, call our offices today at (877) 247-4292 or (212) 983-9330.
