Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen subsidiary is now facing a new Risperdal lawsuit regarding the alleged Risperdal side effect, gynecomastia. This lawsuit was filed by a young man, who had taken Risperdal but had later developed gynecomastia, and needed surgery to remove the excess breast tissue.

The Risperdal lawsuit was filed last month by plaintiff Shaquil Byrd in a New York federal court, alleging that his gynecomastia had been directly caused by Risperdal, which he had taken for several years from his teenage years until he was a young adult.

Gynecomastia is a rare condition where female-like breast tissue develops in men, which has become an infamous side effect of Risperdal, exhibited in young male patients.

According to his Risperdal lawsuit, Byrd indicates that he was prescribed Risperdal in 2001 and stayed on the medication until 2008 for mental health complications. During his time on Risperdal, he had developed breasts and began lactating, and claims to have suffered painful and permanent injuries, as well as severe emotional complications.

Byrd’s gynecomastia lawsuit is joining a growing number of Risperdal gynecomastia lawsuits being processed in the United States. Each of these lawsuits allege that Janssen had failed to adequately research the Risperdal side effects and failed to warn patients about the risk of gynecomastia.

In some of the Risperdal lawsuits featured, plaintiffs allege that boys developed breasts reported to be as large as 38D cup size after using Risperdal, often requiring surgery to remove them.

Additionally, aside from the physical injuries caused by gynecomastia, the psychological effects can be just as devastating, which has been indicated to stay with them through adulthood.

Byrd’s lawsuit is remarkably similar to a Risperdal lawsuit that was settled in September 2012, which was brought against Janssen by a young man who also alleged that Risperdal had caused him to develop breasts, emotional trauma, and required surgery to have them removed. The Risperdal settlement was reached shortly before the case went to trial, which reimbursed the plaintiff for the medical expenses incurred from the gynecomastia complication.

Shortly after that lawsuit was settled, several other Risperdal settlement agreements were reached in Risperdal lawsuits representing at least five other boys. Each of them allege that they developed gynecomastia after ingesting Risperdal.

Most of the Risperdal lawsuits pending throughout the United States are in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, but a large number of them have been consolidated in the New Jersey court system as part of multicounty litigation under Judge Jessica R. Mayer in Middlesex County.

Overview of Risperdal Complications

Across the country, families are filing Risperdal lawsuits against Janssen and Johnson & Johnson on behalf of the young male patients who allegedly suffered from Risperdal-induced gynecomastia.

Risperdal is manufactured by Janssen Pharmaceuticals, and was originally approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1993. It was later approved in 2007 to treat schizophrenia in children ages 13 to 17, and bipolar disorder in children ages 10 through 17.

Risperdal is one of the most popular antipsychotics prescribed to patients for rather severe mental disorders, due to its unique treatment mechanism.

Risperdal works by channeling the brain’s chemical dopamine, which controls the brain’s reward, pain, and pleasure system. Unlike other antipsychotics, Risperdal only channels one chemical rather than balancing the entire brain, making the mental and physical Risperdal side effects much less severe.