Amid the rising legal tension in the Risperdal lawsuits, a new study finds a disturbing trend in California’s foster homes. The report found that Californian foster children were prescribed atypical antipsychotic medications at an alarming rate.

According to The Los Angeles Daily News, one out of four foster children in California are being treated with powerful antipsychotics, such as Risperdal, which is three times the nationwide rate.

Additionally, the newspaper also suggests that some of these children do not necessarily need the medication, but it appears to be used as “quick fixes” for children with behavioral problems.

Over the last decade, statistics indicate that nearly 15 percent of the Golden Gate state’s foster children of all ages were prescribed antipsychotics like Risperdal. The data in this article consisted of a year’s worth of interviews with foster youth, caregivers, doctors, researchers, and legal advocates, revealing just how dependent the foster care system has become on antipsychotics and other mental treatment medications.

During the investigation process, years of data starting from 2004 provided a comprehensive look at the rate that Risperdal and other antipsychotics are prescribed to Californian foster children. According to the investigation:

• Antipsychotics are prescribed to treat bad behavior: Data indicates that out of the thousands of foster children placed on psychotropic drugs over the past 10 years, nearly 60 percent were prescribed an atypical antipsychotic. That figure stunned medical experts and alarmed the state’s foster care officials.
• Multiple psych meds are common but dangerous: In many cases, doctors piled on prescriptions: 12.2 percent of California foster children who took a psychiatric drug in 2013, were prescribed additional medications, often two, three, four, or at a time. Such drug combinations are more often than not in uncharted medical territory.
• Psych meds are normal in group homes for troubled children: More than half of the foster kids who live in California’s residential group homes are authorized by juvenile courts to receive psychotropic drugs.
• Very young kids medicated: For the past 10 years in California, an average of at least 275 children, 5 years and younger, have been prescribed antipsychotics like Risperdal.
• Illegal marketing tactics towards California foster homes: Records show that the manufacturers of Risperdal and other drugs have misrepresented scientific evidence of the drug’s safety to children, allegedly to maximize their profits.

Overview of Risperdal Complications

Risperdal use has led to a mass Risperdal lawsuit movement against Risperdal maker, Janssen Pharmaceuticals. Janssen has been accused of using deceptive marketing tactics that had downplayed Risperdal side effects, in order to maximize profits. Specifically, the company had sold Risperdal stating it was approved to treat adolescent patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, when it was not approved to do so until 2006.

When Risperdal was initially approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1993, it was only approved to treat adult patients with extreme mental disorders. While it is not illegal for doctors to prescribe medications for off-label purposes, it is illegal for companies to promote them for such uses. For male patients specifically, who were prescribed Risperdal, there were serious consequences to contend with.

Reportedly, male patients who had taken Risperdal had developed gynecomastia, or male breast growth, also known as “man boobs.” Surgical intervention was often required to remove the breast tissue. Numerous Risperdal lawsuits were filed against Janssen Pharmaceuticals for failing to mention this Risperdal side effect on Risperdal’s label.

With such a significant Risperdal side effect, many experts feel that the access foster homes have to certain medications should be monitored much more intensely.