Risperdal Breast Growth Lawsuit Goes to Trial in Philadelphia

Trial is underway in Pennsylvania state court for a Risperdal lawsuit brought against Johnson & Johnson and its Janssen subsidiary, which alleges that the drug maker failed to adequately warn that young boys prescribed the antipsychotic may experience abnormal breast growth. 

Opening arguments commenced on January 23, in a case filed by 20 year-old Austin Pledger. According to the lawsuit, Pledger indicates that side effects of Risperdal use for autism when he was 8 years old has left him with a medical condition known as gynecomastia, which has caused the growth of large female breasts that may require a double mastectomy.

The case is one of more than 1,250 similar Risperdal breast growth lawsuits currently centralized in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, where mass tort proceedings have been established for the claims that allege the drug makers knew about the potential risks, yet withheld information from consumers and the medical community.

Gynecomastia is a medical disorder associated with the growth of breast tissue among males. In many of the Risperdal cases, plaintiffs allege that the breast development caused by the medication resulted in the need for surgical treatment to remove the breasts, which will leave them with scarring and other physical injury, as well as severe psychological damage from Risperdal breast growth.

Johnson & Johnson has been quietly dealing with breast growth litigation over Risperdal for years, but the number of cases has continued to grow as more families and young adults learn that there may be a link between problems suffered following a diagnosis of gynecomastia and Risperdal use as a child.

The trial of the Pledger case is the first in what is expected to be a series of Risperdal bellwether trials this year, which are designed to help the parties gauge how juries may respond to certain evidence and testimony that is likely to be offered throughout the litigation.

Although the outcomes of these early test trials are not binding on other cases, they may influence negotiations with Johnson & Johnson to reach Risperdal settlements in an attempt to avoid setting hundreds of individual cases for trial in the state.