One would think that males taking a popular antipsychotic drug should know about the potential severe side effects associated with the drug, especially if the side effect included developing large breasts.

However, more than 13,000 males or their caregivers have filed lawsuits against the manufacturer of Risperdal – a commonly prescribed drug to treat bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, symptoms of autism, sleep disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorders.

These male Risperdal victims have often commented that dealing with the physical disfigurement of developing gynecomastia, the scientific name for male breast development, or “man boobs,” the colloquial reference to the condition, was far worse than dealing with the symptoms of the disorder they were trying to treat.

One man in particular says that the side effect of developing gynecomastia while he was 13 had innumerable negative effects on his development. Now 26, Eddie B. recalls, “I had bigger boobs than the girls in (high) school. If I knew what the side effects would be of the medication, I would have never taken it.”

Eddie is well aware that suing J&J cannot bring back his past so he can make different choices and knows he can’t make the scars from his breast reduction surgery go away.

Eddie does hope to make the manufacturers understand what he went through and hold them accountable for their actions. He states, “Looking back on it, I feel like an experiment.”

Aaron B., who counts himself among Risperdal victims, says that he began taking Risperdal in 1999 when he was only nine years old. He said that after he developed breasts from the Risperdal use, he suffered psychological damage.

Arturo C. took Risperdal as a teenager to treat his mental illness. As a 23-year-old, he realizes he too is one of many Risperdal victims who developed breasts in response to taking the drug.

Currently, more than 13,000 lawsuits are pending in the courts filed by male Risperdal victims who were unknowingly injured by the antipsychotic drug.

He says that he is currently unable to afford breast reduction surgery and continues to suffer the physical disfigurement as well as a psychological damage caused by the gynecomastia.

Risperdal was initially approved by the FDA in 1994. Maker Janssen Pharmaceuticals and parent company Johnson & Johnson have already been forced to pay more than $5 billion settlements and penalties resulting from both criminal and civil complaints over the use of Risperdal and two other drugs.

One of the settlements involving Johnson & Johnson revolved around complaints that Risperdal and two other drugs were promoted to dementia patients despite the company only having FDA approval to market the drugs for treatment of schizophrenia.

Janssen Pharmaceuticals was also accused by the U.S. Department of Justice for promoting Risperdal’s use in children even though the manufacturer was aware of several health risks associated with the use of the drug.

A lawyer representing several Risperdal victims stated, “In the mid-90’s, early 2000s, Johnson & Johnson made a conscious decision that they were going to withhold important information about their drug so that they could essentially increase their profits by selling it to kids. J&J went out of their way to hurt these kids, and now the information is come to light.”

The lawyer continued, saying, “Unfortunately, past fines that J&J repaid did nothing to help those who directly suffered through the bullying and shaming after developing female breasts.”