Risperdal Lawyers to Meet with Judge in Pennsylvania Breast Growth Litigation

A meeting is scheduled for next week before the Pennsylvania judge presiding over all Risperdal lawsuits filed in the state, which involve claims brought on behalf of boys and young men who allegedly developed male breasts after using the popular antipsychotic medication.

There are currently about 1,200 product liability lawsuits pending in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas against Johnson & Johnson and its Janssen subsidiary, which all allege that that drug makers failed to adequately warn about the risk of young boys developing a medical condition known as gynecomastia from side effects of Risperdal.

According to a calendar entry posted by the Philadelphia Court’s Complex Litigation Center, Risperdal lawyers are scheduled to meet with the judge presiding over the cases on January 12, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.

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, resulting in scarring and other physical injury, as well as severe psychological injury from the gynecomastia 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.

In the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, a series of Risperdal bellwether trials are expected to begin 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.

In 2012, a series of cases were scheduled to go before juries in Philadelphia, but Johnson & Johnson reached agreements to settle the Risperdal cases just at the trials were set to begin.