Arkansas Supreme Court Overturns $1.2 Billion Risperdal Judgment
by March 21, 2014 7:16 am 110 views
From John Lyon with our content partner, the Arkansas News Bureau:
The state Supreme Court on Thursday overturned a $1.2 billion judgment against Johnson & Johnson in a lawsuit over the drug maker’s marketing of the antipsychotic drug Risperdal.
In a 4-3 decision, the high court reversed the judgment that was awarded to the state at the end of a 12-day trial in April 2012 in a lawsuit filed by Attorney General Dustin McDaniel in Pulaski County Circuit Court.
The lawsuit alleged that Johnson & Johnson and subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals minimized the risks of Risperdal and marketed it for off-label use, in violation of the state Medical Fraud False Claims Act and the state Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
The drug maker was fined $5,000 each for 238,874 Risperdal prescriptions filled in the state between December 2002 and June 2006.
Johnson & Johnson argued on appeal that the Medical Fraud False Claims Act was incorrectly interpreted. The state Supreme Court agreed, saying Thursday that under the law, liability is triggered when a false statement is made regarding the conditions or operations of a health care facility when it is being certified or re-certified.
Read more on the court decision from Lyon’s report at this link.