Johnson & Johnson’s subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals has issued a response to one of the first male breast growth lawsuits they faced over their drug Risperdal, which could be encouraging for the bulk of the Risperdal lawsuits moving forwards through the court system.

Risperdal is an atypical antipsychotic, a drug designed to help control schizophrenia. Earlier drugs to treat the disorder were dogged by problems like lethargy, as most earlier schizophrenia drugs suppressed brain activity outside of the regions associated with schizophrenia, leading to patients feeling drugged.

However, studies have indicated, and Risperdal lawsuits have alleged, that the drug may have serious side effects of its own.

The gynecomastia lawsuits were not the first major legal action that Johnson & Johnson has faced over Risperdal. Janssen was fined billions over allegations related to alleged “off-label” promotion of the drug.

Under federal law, drug makers must submit a drug to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for FDA-approved testing protocols to establish the safety and efficacy of a drug for each use they intend to market the drug.

Though doctors are allowed to use their judgment and use a drug for other purposes, or off-label uses, drug companies like Johnson & Johnson are forbidden from promoting the drug for these uses.

Risperdal has only been approved to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and some symptoms of autism. Federal regulators, including the FDA and the Justice Department, accused Johnson & Johnson of promoting off-label uses for Risperdal, including promoting it for dementia patients and young children—despite the fact that it was not approved for these disorders or these patients.

The Justice Department fined Johnson & Johnson $1.6 billion over these marketing practices.

Studies have found that Risperdal can cause increased levels of a hormone called prolactin, particularly in younger male patients. High levels of prolactin are associated with a disorder called gynecomastia or male breast growth.

Males suffering from gynecomastia find themselves developing female-like breasts. This condition can be psychologically damaging, and may require surgical correction to fix the problem.

In one of the first Risperdal settlements in 2012, Johnson & Johnson rapidly agreed to a multimillion dollar settlement to keep the case from going to trial. In this case, a 21-year-old named Aaron Banks had filed the Risperdal lawsuit, alleging that he was prescribed Risperdal between 1999 and 2004, starting at age 9.

He eventually had to have the breasts surgically removed. His Risperdal gynecomastia lawsuit alleged that this experience was traumatic, and costly.

But by the time of Banks’s Risperdal lawsuit, there were already 120 Risperdal lawsuits pending against Johnson & Johnson over gynecomastia. Since, this number has increased by the hundreds, and the legal system has coordinated them into a single multidistrict litigation, or MDL.

The Risperdal MDL is In Re: Risperdal Litigation, Case No. 100300296, in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.