Three plaintiffs have now successfully taken Johnson & Johnson to trial over Risperdal side effects, making settlements of future Risperdal lawsuits more likely.

The third victory came recently when a Philadelphia jury found that Risperdal caused plaintiff Timothy S. to develop gynecomastia, a condition in which men or boys suffer from abnormal breast growth.

The jury found that Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals had been negligent in failing to warn patients and physicians about the risk of Risperdal gynecomastia.

Timothy’s case is among over 1,600 Risperdal lawsuits now pending in the Pennsylvania state court system. It is the fourth of those claims to go to trial. Two other trials have yielded plaintiff’s victories to the tune of $2.5 million and $1.75 million, respectively.

In the one trial that did not yield a plaintiff’s verdict, the jury did not find a connection between the plaintiff’s gynecomastia and Risperdal, even though they did find the defendants had been negligent in their failure to warn.

Risperdal, or risperidone, is a psychiatric medication that has been on the market for over 20 years. It’s now FDA-approved as a treatment for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Timothy’s Risperdal Lawsuit

In his Risperdal lawsuit, Timothy said he had been prescribed Risperdal as an adolescent, at a time when the drug had not yet been FDA-approved for use in patients as young as he was.

He claimed the drug caused him to develop breasts while still in high school, and that he was subject to excessive teasing and humiliation because of his condition. He ultimately had to undergo a double mastectomy to remove the abnormal breast tissue.

At the time Timothy was prescribed Risperdal, its warning label stated that gynecomastia occurred in fewer than one in 1,000 adults. However, Timothy had argued that at that time Johnson & Johnson had data showing the condition occurred much more frequently in adolescent patients.

Even if the company did have that information, it allegedly marketed Risperdal for use in children at a time when the FDA had approved it only for use in adults.

That issue was one of many issues addressed in a 2013 settlement between Johnson & Johnson and the Justice Department, in which Johnson & Johnson agreed to pay $2.2 billion dollars to resolve those allegations and others related to its marketing practices.

The results of these four trials could give Johnson & Johnson and Janssen reason to settle other Risperdal lawsuits still pending.

All four juries found negligence in the defendants’ failure to provide an adequate warning about the risk of Risperdal gynecomastia, and three out of four juries found that Risperdal had caused the plaintiff’s gynecomastia.

Timothy’s Risperdal Lawsuit is Case no. 130401984, filed in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County .