J&J settles Risperidone suit on opening day.
Bloomberg News (9/11, Feeley, Fisk) reports Johnson & Johnson “settled a lawsuit on the first day of a trial over claims its antipsychotic drug Risperdal (risperidone) caused a male plaintiff to grow breast tissue, one of his lawyers told a state judge in Philadelphia,” but he did not provide details of the settlement. The case, “Banks v. Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, January Term 2010, No. 00618,” was the first of about 130 suits to “go to trial on claims that Risperdal caused boys to grow breasts.” Overall, there are about 420 suits pending “against J&J and its Janssen unit that allege personal injuries caused by Risperdal,” according to an August SEC filing. The FDA approved Risperdal initially, for “psychotic disorders including schizophrenia in 1993” but it was “later approved for other uses.”