Johnson & Johnson is paying the third-largest
pharmaceutical settlement ever to settle civil and criminal fines that it
improperly marketed and promoted the antipsychotic drug Risperdal. Much
of the conduct occurred when current J&J CEO Alex Gorsky
was vice president for sales and marketing or president of the pharmaceutical
unit.
The United States Attorney General said
that the company "recklessly put at risk the most vulnerable members of
our society." In response, J&J's vice
president and general counsel said "This resolution allows us to move
forward and continue to focus on delivering innovative solutions that improve
and enhance the well-being of patients.
Federal officials said the company knew
that Risperdal posed serious risks for older adults, such as an increased risk of
strokes, but played them down. J&J also knew that children
were susceptible to certain health risks from taking the drug, including the
possibility that boys could develop breasts through elevated production of the
hormone prolactin, federal officials said. Despite this, J&J told
its sales representatives to visit child psychologists and mental health
facilities that mainly focused on children and to promote the drug for defecit
hyperactivity disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
