Risperdal, a Johnson & Johnson off-label ADHD treatment drug, may cause the development of breasts in young boys, otherwise known as gynecomastia.

Risperdal is a popular drug manufactured and distributed by pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson, and has been their number one product for more than ten years.

However, the ADHD treatment drug has not been popular with everyone. In fact, Johnson & Johnson has settled over 1,300 lawsuits regarding serious Risperdal side effects.

Lawsuits are spurred by gynecomastia, a severe side effect that can cause dramatic breast growth in young men taking the drug. One recent Risperdal lawsuit was filed after a young man grew 46DD sized breasts after taking the ADHD treatment drug, which was quickly settled for an undisclosed amount.

Risperdal as an ADHD Treatment Drug

Risperdal is prescribed to treat schizophrenia, but has been used off-label as an ADD and ADHD treatment drug.

Risperdal has been connected with some serious problems in the past. For instance, Johnson & Johnson sponsored Joseph Biederman, a child psychologist from Harvard in his research, in exchange for moving forward the “commercial goals of J&J.”

These details were released in a series of email conversations and documents obtained by the New York Times.

In 2011, Biederman was disciplined by Massachusetts General Hospital for failing to adequately disclose that much of his research was funded by various drug companies. Biederman and his coworkers were given as much as $4.2 million by drug companies to fund relevant research.

Later, Ivo Caers, who was a vice president of Janssen Research & Development (a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson) testified in court that the company never gave the FDA important information from an internal study linking intake of Risperdal with breast growth, or gynecomastia.

The study on the ADHD treatment drug had existed for years, according to his testimony.

Johnson & Johnson was also involved in one of the largest healthcare fraud penalties. In 2013, the company was ordered to deliver over $2.2 billion in order to resolve a criminal and civil investigation over Risperdal problems.

Risperdal was approved and joined the market in 1994, but it wasn’t officially approved for use in minors until 2006. After that approval, a new warning was issued to include on its label the possibility of gynecomastia linked with the drug.

According to former FDA commissioner David Kessler, Johnson & Johnson pushed doctors through marketing tactics to prescribe Risperdal off-label as an ADHD treatment drug, despite knowing that the drug had not yet been formally tested and approved for ADHD treatment in minors.

Kessler testified in a Philadelphia court this year, saying that Johnson & Johnson “knew by 2001 that Risperdal could cause abnormal breast development in boys.”

One such young man, a 20-year-old with autism named Austin P., had taken Risperdal since the age of eight. Because of this, he alleged in a Risperdal lawsuit, he ended up growing size 44DD breasts as a result of gynecomastia.

Austin P. won $2.5 million through this lawsuit. His was the first of 1,200 pending Risperdal lawsuits filed in Philadelphia independently.

Filing a Risperdal Lawsuit

Many patients who have suffered from Risperdal side effects have filed gynecomastia lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson, alleging that the company failed to adequately warn patients about the risk of gynecomastia.

If you or someone you love has suffered from Risperdal side effects due to the ADHD treatment drug, you may be able to file a Risperdal gynecomastia lawsuit.