News

Man Sues Johnson & Johnson $11 Billion Because Their Product Made Him Grow Breasts

Boon Hun

2019-10-11 , 9:00 am

Imagine this: You suffer from a condition and your doctor tells you to take a particular medicine.

It will help you, he says.

And so, you took it.

Except, while it helps you with your condition, it created another problem for you.

That was what happened to thousands of people who took medicine with undisclosed side effects.

Man Sued Johnson & Johnson For Not Mentioning Side Effects

Janssen is a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson and they produce an antipsychotic drug, Risperdal.

Risperdal, also known as Risperidone medically, was toted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as one of the essential medicine needed for a “basic healthcare system”.

Unfortunately, what wasn’t mentioned by Janssen was that their medicine has a side effect. It’ll cause a man to grow breasts, a condition known as gynecomastia.

26-year-old Nicholas Murray began taking the medicine in 2003 after he was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.

And like thousands of other people who took the medicine, they grew breasts and, more often than not, got bullied and laughed at in school.

Awarded $11 Billion in Compensation

Previously, Murray had sued the company and won US$680,000 (~S$937,000).

And now, the court has ordered Janssen to pay Murray US$8 billion (S$11 billion) in punitive damages.

And this is just the first of thousands of cases to be tried in Pennsylvania where companies can be asked to pay for punitive damage.

About 13,000 Victims Back in 2016

Remember, WHO said Risperdal is considered an essential medicine.

Which means there are going to be a lot of victims, and there are.

According to a CNN report back in 2016, there are around 13,000 victims of the drug.

Johnson & Johnson Confident The Amount Can Be Brought Down

The court has clearly shown that J&J has valued profits over the health and safety of children and patients, Murray’s lawyers said.

But Johnson & Johnson are confident that the amount can be brought down.

Their confidence stemmed from three factors:

The amount awarded is too much compared to the initial award and they can get it overturned.
They claimed the jury had refused to listen to the benefits of the drug.
The label “clearly” outline the risks associated with the medicine.

Professor Carl Tobias of the University of Richmond School of Law predicted that the amount will be lowered after an appeal.

In the previous case (where Murray won), the courts had initially ordered for US$1.75 million to be paid to Murray. It was reduced to US$680,000 after the appeal.

Other J&J Products In Controversy

The antipsychotic drug isn’t the only J&J product facing troubles.

Another product is the Johnson & Johnson baby powder.

Back in 2017, a woman won a lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson for not warning users about the risk of cancer when you use it for feminine hygiene.

She had used the company’s baby powder, which contains talcum, for feminine hygiene for years and was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2007.

The company was ordered to pay her US$417 million (S$568 million).

And Reuters also ran an article against the company, accusing them of targeting women in minority groups despite knowing about cancer risks.

As a rule of thumb: don’t use cosmetic talcum products like baby powder on your genital area or as an antiperspirant.

They are classified as “possibly carcinogenic” (read: could cause cancer) by an arm of the WHO.