Jury Hits J&J With $8 Billion Verdict -- WSJ
09 Octobre 2019 - 09:02AM
Dow Jones News
Complainant claimed that use of Risperdal as child caused breast
enlargement
By Peter Loftus
This article is being republished as part of our daily
reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S.
print edition of The Wall Street Journal (October 9, 2019).
A Philadelphia jury on Tuesday ordered Johnson & Johnson to
pay $8 billion in damages to a Maryland man who said his use of
J&J's antipsychotic Risperdal as a child caused enlarged
breasts and the company failed to properly warn of this risk.
It was the biggest award to date among more than 13,000 lawsuits
against J&J alleging that Risperdal caused a condition called
gynecomastia in boys, which involves enlargement of breast tissue.
The lawsuits generally claim that J&J was aware of the risk of
this side effect, but understated the risk to doctors.
It is also the latest in a series of costly legal setbacks for
J&J in a slew of lawsuits alleging injuries from products and
other claims. In August, an Oklahoma judge ordered the company to
pay $572 million for contributing to the state's opioid-addiction
crisis.
Last year, a St. Louis jury found J&J should pay $4.69
billion in damages to 22 women and their families who blamed
ovarian-cancer cases on use of the company's baby powder.
J&J has denied the allegations and is seeking to appeal the
baby-powder and opioid decisions. Last week, J&J said it agreed
to pay $20.4 million to settle lawsuits filed by two Ohio counties
alleging the company helped spark the opioid epidemic; the company
didn't admit liability.
When ruling on appeals, judges often reduce jury punitive-damage
awards.
The latest verdict stems from a lawsuit filed by Nicholas
Murray, who said his use of Risperdal between 2003 and 2008 caused
gynecomastia. In 2015, a Philadelphia jury awarded Mr. Murray $1.75
million in damages, which a judge reduced to $680,000, but the
judge had barred the jury from awarding punitive damages at that
time.
An appeals court later overturned the judge's decision on
punitive damages, clearing the way for the punitive-damages phase
of the trial to start in September, ending with Tuesday's
verdict.
J&J, based in New Brunswick, N.J., said in a statement
Tuesday it will immediately move "to set aside this excessive and
unfounded verdict." The company said the amount was "grossly
disproportionate" to the initial compensatory award of $680,000,
and it is confident the verdict will be overturned.
J&J said it was precluded from presenting a meaningful
defense due to the court's exclusion of key evidence, and that the
prescribing label for Risperdal properly outlined its risks.
Mr. Murray's lawyers, Thomas Kline and Jason Itkin, said in a
statement that the jury "resoundingly told Johnson & Johnson
that its actions were deliberate and malicious."
Risperdal, which treats schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and
irritability associated with autism, was one of J&J's
highest-selling products before losing its U.S. patent exclusivity
in 2008.
Write to Peter Loftus at peter.loftus@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 09, 2019 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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