Thousands of people taking antipsychotic drug Risperdal say it causes breast enlargement in men, a condition known as gynecomastia.

Patients claim that Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals knew of the potential for breast enlargement in men but suppressed information about that risk for years.

When plaintiff Eddie B. was a teenager, he could not stand to look in the mirror.

“I had bigger boobs than the girls in (high) school,” he said in an interview with CNN. “I thought, ‘Am I going to have to get a training bra?’”

Eddie was 13 years old and was experiencing gynecomastia, a side effect of the Risperdal he had been taking for anxiety and bipolar disorder. After a year and a half on the medication, he developed large breasts.

Risperdal Linked to Breast Enlargement in Men

Eddie is now among those suing Johnson & Johnson. Like many of his peers, Eddie claims he would have never taken the medication had he known of the risks.

“Looking back on it, I feel like an experiment,” said Eddie, who is now 26 years old.

Finally, in 2006, after more than a decade of written prescriptions to trusting teens such as Eddie, Johnson & Johnson added a warning that breast enlargement in men could be a side effect of Risperdal to the drug’s labels.

Johnson & Johnson, Janssen Deny Promoting Drug for Children

Johnson & Johnson has paid more than $2 billion in penalties and settlements over civil and criminal enforcement actions regarding Risperdal and other drugs.

The Department of Justice alleged that Janssen marketed the drug for use in children and people with mental disabilities other than schizophrenia at a time when the FDA had not yet approved Risperdal for use in younger patients.

Janssen also has stood accused of telling doctors they would not receive speaking fees for speeches that Janssen arranged unless the doctors increased the number of Risperdal prescriptions they wrote.

The DOJ also accused Janssen of offering doctors paid speaking engagements at Janssen-sponsored events in exchange for writing more prescriptions for Risperdal. Janssen blamed its sales representatives, who the company says acted out of bounds on their own initiative. The case was settled with Janssen agreeing to pay a settlement plus fines.

Johnson & Johnson does not admit to inappropriately marketing Risperdal to children, saying Janssen “did not direct sales representatives to promote Risperdal for use in children or adolescents, and it did not approve sales materials aimed at treating children or adolescents.”

Even so, Johnson & Johnson was quick to settle a Pennsylvania case rather than go to trial over allegations another young man developed enlarged breasts after allegedly taking Risperdal from 1999 to 2004.

The plaintiff says he started taking the drug at age nine, at a time when Risperdal was not approved for use in children in the U.S. After finding out that Risperdal caused breast enlargement in men that could not be reduced by simply losing weight, the young man had the tissue surgically removed.

If you have been affected by Risperdal gynecomastia, you may benefit from a consultation with a Risperdal attorney. You could be entitled to compensation for pain and suffering, surgical reimbursement costs and other expenses.