Johnson & Johnson is one of the most common brands when it comes to everyday regular household items such as band-aids, baby powder, and more. However, a jury has ordered the company to cough up $8B to Nicholas Murray who sued the company for not warning him that he could grow breasts from using Risperdal. Murray previously won $680K in the case in a Philadelphia Common Pleas Court. He claimed he began to take Risperdal in 2003 after he was diagnosed with autism.
“This jury, as have other juries in other litigations, once again imposed punitive damages on a corporation that valued profits over safety and profits over patients,” Murray’s lawyers said in a joint statement to Reuters. “Johnson & Johnson and (subsidiary) Janssen chose billions over children.”
Despite the verdict in the case, J&J said that the judgment is "grossly disproportionate with the initial compensatory award in this case, and the Company is confident it will be overturned." Adding, "the jury did not hear evidence as to how the label for RISPERDAL® clearly and appropriately outlined the risks associated with the medicine, or the benefits RISPERDAL® provides to patients with serious mental illness."
Even with the major award, Professor Carl Tobias of the University of Richmond School of Law said he predicts that the punitive damages to be lowered when J&J appeal.
