Currently, a mass tort program is underway in Philadelphia against Johnson and Johnson and its subsidiary, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, alleging severe side effects resulted from the use of its antipsychotic drug Risperdal.

The fifth trial in this Risperdal lawsuit mass tort program began last week with a family telling the jury that their adolescent son developed breasts as a result of taking Risperdal.

The attorney for the family showed the jury a picture of the boy’s swollen chest, stating that the boy’s physical condition was a direct result of taking Risperdal that was prescribed to treat his psychiatric issues.

In the fourth Risperdal trial, the same attorney convinced the jury that Risperdal was responsible for male breast growth, also known as gynecomastia, and the family won a total of $1.75 million as a result of their Risperdal lawsuit.

The current Risperdal lawsuit has been filed by the family of a Tennessee boy, Andrew Y., who began taking Risperdal in 2003. The family is accusing Johnson & Johnson of knowingly concealing the male breast growth side effects of the drug.

“We are here because Andrew had breasts, and his doctors weren’t warned about the breasts,” Andrew’s attorney told the jury. “The label said that Risperdal is no different from other drugs. We have Janssen’s internal documents. We know that’s wrong.”

Andrew began taking the drug at age 15 after trying to other drugs to treat his psychiatric issues, namely attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and oppositional defiant disorder.

Within the first year of taking the drug, Andrew began showing signs of gynecomastia, and an official medical report the following year stated that Andrew had male breast development in addition to weight gain, according to Andrew’s attorney.

The attorney’s argument focused on the research conducted by Johnson & Johnson, and he claimed that the company concealed data about the gynecomastia side effects from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Initially, the FDA declined approving Risperdal for use in children back in 1997, citing a lack of data on the safety of the drug, then approved Risperdal in October 2006 to treat the symptoms associated with autism in children.

According to court documents, when Andrew began taking Risperdal in 2003, the drug was only approved to treat adult patients with schizophrenia at the time.

A warning label on the drug during that time pointed to gynecomastia as a rare side effect that could potentially affect fewer than one in 1000 patients, the attorney claims.

Janssen scientists were well aware that Risperdal was associated with hormone spikes of prolactin, a hormone that can produce gynecomastia, according to the attorney.

He cited internal emails from Johnson & Johnson officials that indicated Risperdal was worse than competitors with respect to the elevation of prolactin.

In particular, one of the tables including information on gynecomastia was apparently not shared with the FDA. “It wasn’t given to the FDA. They knew it’s a weakness. They took this table and locked it away, never to be seen until this litigation,” the attorney told the jury.

Counsel for Johnson & Johnson told the jury that Andrew’s doctors knew the risks of prescribing Risperdal and prescribed the drug to the boy after conducting an appropriate risk-benefit analysis.

“You’ll hear every one of [Andrew’s] doctors agree that he needed the medication, that he needed Risperdal… Because it was the only drug but ever really worked for him,” Johnson & Johnson’s counsel stated.

The attorney told the jury that even though Andrew’s mother saw a commercial on television in 2013 soliciting Risperdal plaintiffs and subsequently filed a Risperdal lawsuit, she was resistant to taking her son off of Risperdal.

The defendant’s counsel stated that Andrew’s mother allegedly said, “I don’t want to switch right now because he’s doing so good.”

Prior to the opening arguments in the Risperdal lawsuit trial, Johnson & Johnson tried to stop the presentation of a deposition from former FDA Commissioner David Kessler that had been videotaped.

In the first Risperdal lawsuit trial, Kessler personally testified and stated that Johnson & Johnson had manipulated the data shown to the federal agency to obscure any evidence linking Risperdal to male breast growth.

The trial in this Risperdal lawsuit is anticipated to last several weeks. It is part of approximately 1500 Risperdal cases currently pending in Philadelphia County, according to court documents.

The Rispedal Lawsuit is Case No. 130402094, in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.