J&J Guilty of Deceptive Marketing in Arkansas Risperdal Lawsuit

This is a settlement for the Risperdal lawsuit.

New York, NY: Johnson & Johnson (J&J) may have to pay $1.25 billion for deceptive marketing of its atypical antipsychotic Risperdal, according to media reports.

The settlement, ordered by a judge in Arkansas, is one of the larger J&J may have to pay for deceptive marketing of the drug.

According to a report by Bloomberg, jurors in state court in Little Rock, Arkansas, deliberated for roughly three hours before finding J&J and its Janssen unit guilty of taking part in "false or deceptive acts."These acts involved the company sending a letter in 2003 to more than 6,000 doctors, that claimed Risperdal is safer than competing drugs used in the state. "The state of Arkansas is seeking more than $1.25 billion in penalties over the Risperdal marketing campaign, and a judge will decide later whether to fine J&J," Bloomberg reports.

This is the third case in which states allege J&J hid Risperdal' risks and tricked Medicaid regulators into paying more than they should have for the medicine, and in which the jury has found against the drugmaker. Juries in Louisiana and South Carolina have also found that J&J's Risperdal marketing violated consumer-protection laws. J&J is expected to appeal the decision. (Bloomberg)