A Pennsylvania judge agreed to increase a $70 million Risperdal award to just over $76 million in a recent gynecomastia lawsuit.

The lawsuit was filed against Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals. The gynecomastia lawsuit was filed by a family on behalf of their adolescent son, who allegedly took the antipsychotic Risperdal and subsequently began to grow breasts.

The additional $6.7 million in the Risperdal award is meant to cover delay damages, since the lawsuit took quite some time to settle. According to counsel for the family, the family was entitled to considerable delay damages.

Their wait was over a year, between April 16, 2014, “Which is one year after service of the complaint, through July 1, 2016, the date of the verdict.” Because of this significant delay, counsel asked the court to increase the Risperdal award amount.

In response to the request to increase the Risperdal award, Janssen Pharmaceuticals argued that this was an erroneous demand.

Indeed, a Janssen representative wrote that “we continue to believe the verdict was not justified and should be reversed on appeal.”

Despite the defendants’ claims, the Pennsylvania judge approved the addition to the Risperdal award.

The plaintiffs’ attorney, Jason Itkin, noted the benefits of the possibility of delay damages allowed according to Pennsylvania rules.

“This mechanism insures that Johnson & Johnson cannot profit by trying to drag out the time before injured families…can have their day in court,” said the attorney in a statement.

The Risperdal gynecomastia lawsuit was originally filed in April 2013, and alleged that the adolescent boy of the family began taking Risperdal in 2003 as an antipsychotic.

However, the lawsuit alleges, the boy subsequently developed gynecomastia, or the abnormal growth of female-like breasts. These breasts are made up of breast tissue rather than fat.

When the boy began taking Risperdal back in 2003, Risperdal had only been officially approved for the treatment of schizophrenia in adults.

A warning label did at the time indicate that gynecomastia was a possible Risperdal side effect, but was rare and affected fewer than one in 1,000 patients who took the drug.

However, attorneys for the plaintiff claimed that Janssen scientists knew, even back then, that Risperdal was linked with spikes in the hormone prolactin, and that these prolactin spikes could cause a patient to develop gynecomastia.

Risperdal Lawsuits

Hundreds of boys and young men who have suffered from Risperdal side effects have filed gynecomastia lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson.

These injured parties claim that that the drug maker failed to adequately warn patients and the medical community about the potential side effects of the drug that could have such a drastic effect on their daily lives.

If you or someone you love was negatively impacted by Risperdal, or you are a male who has developed Risperdal male breasts, you may be able to file a Risperdal gynecomastia lawsuit against Johnson and Johnson for failure to adequately warn about the potential Risperdal side effects.