Johnson & Johnson fined more than $1 billion in Risperdal case
The revamped journal of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is under fire for its authors’ ties to drug companies.
An Arkansas judge on Wednesday fined Johnson & Johnson and a subsidiary more than $1.1 billion after a jury found that the companies downplayed and hid risks associated with taking the antipsychotic drug Risperdal.
Judge Tim Fox determined that Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary, Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., committed nearly 240,000 violations of the state's Medicaid fraud law or one for each Risperdal prescription issued to state Medicaid patients over a 3½-year period, The Associated Press reported.
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Each violation came with a $5,000 fine, setting the total penalty at more than $1.1 billion, according to the AP.
Fox issued an additional $11 million fine for more than 4,500 violations under the state's deceptive practices act, the AP reported.
Arkansas sued Johnson & Johnson and the subsidiary in 2007 over the drug, Fort Smith, Ark., TV station KHBS reported.
Previous Risperdal verdicts against Johnson & Johnson include a $327 million civil penalty in South Carolina. Texas reached a $158 million settlement with Janssen in January, KHBS reported.
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Attorneys for the state declined to immediately comment about the huge award after the hearing.
Janssen issued a statement to the AP that read, "We are disappointed with the judge's decision on penalties. If our motion for a new trial is denied, we will appeal."