Risperdal Lawsuits Time Barred, Argues Johnson & Johnson

Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a division of Johnson & Johnson  that manufactured and marketed the antipsychotic drug Risperdal to adolescent males, asked a Pennsylvania court in a Motion for Summary Judgment dated May 19, 2014, to hold that hundreds of personal injury claims connected to Risperdal administration should be time barred by the applicable statute of limitations.  In its Motion, Janssen has argued that plaintiffs have filed injury claims years, and in some cases, decades after developing a condition called gynecomastia, and that the company should not be forced to defend itself against “stale” claims.

Instead, Janssen has argued that plaintiffs in the Risperdal lawsuits should be held by the court to have had constructive notice of the link between Risperdal and gynecomastia as of October 31, 2006, and that this date should be the latest date at which the statute of limitations should be tolled in these lawsuits.

Gynecomastia is a condition characterized by abnormal growth of breast tissue in men and boys, and has been strongly linked in recent years to the administration of Risperdal, an antipsychotic medication.  Plaintiffs have argued that Janssen illegally promoted off-label use of Risperdal to physicians without providing adequate warnings about the serious risks associated with the medication.