Risperdal Lawsuit
A blockbuster drug for Johnson & Johnson,
Risperdal has annual global sales of $2.1 billion as the top antipsychotic
drug and second biggest selling medicine for J&J. Over
ten million people worldwide have used Risperdal, and although Risperdal
was only FDA approved for treatment of schizophrenia symptoms, doctors
have been prescribing Risperdal for behavioral disorders in elderly
patients with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, as well as delusions,
aggression, and anxiety, as well as for children with conduct disorders.
Now, more conditions are being treated with Risperdal, including autism.
The J&J announcement that there is Risperdal stroke
risks seen in elderly patients in April 2003 brought to light many safety
concerns associated to the powerful drug. The company announcement
was made warning of Risperdal stroke. The Risperdal effects included
both strokes and stroke- like events, such as blood clots and hemorrhages,
affecting especially elderly Risperdal patients. J&J said that
in addition to the thousands of letters being sent to health care professionals
warning of the effects of Risperdal, an update to the Risperdal label
would be made.
Risperdal stroke lawsuits may occur as a result of
the recent J&J announcement. The controversy surrounding the Risperdal
announcement is that J&J had already issued a similar warning in
Canada six months earlier. In the Canadian Risperdal stroke warning
letter, J&J cited 37 reports of stroke or stroke-like events such
as blood clots and hemorrhages that included 16 deaths among Risperdal
patients. In addition, the Canadian Risperdal stroke letter cited two
clinical trials of elderly dementia patients that showed a higher proportion
of the Risperdal patients suffered strokes or stroke-like events, as
opposed to those who had received placebos.
With risk of Risperdal stroke occurrence, and a wider
range of conditions being treated with Risperdal, experts, some doctors,
and consumer groups worry that patients are being subjected to unnecessary
risks. Since the safety of Risperdal use in children has never been
established, concerned child advocacy groups, parents, and doctors are
wondering why the powerful drug is increasingly given to youth that
are not affected by schizophrenia but conduct disorders. The dangers
of children using Risperdal is that adverse effects suffered by them
could last a lifetime, a severe result of a problem that is traditionally
fixed with counseling or some other type of method.
A high degree of attention has recently been placed
on the power that drug company’s exercise over regulators due to its
financial stronghold. A high number of drug recalls in recent years
as well as serious adverse effects have been the cause of various drug
litigations and whether or not Risperdal stroke lawsuits emerge will
be evident with time. Large and powerful drug companies have recently
been investigated for controversial involvement of sheltering safety
reports in fears that making them well known would hurt sales of that
company’s particular drug sales.
For more information on a possible Risperdal stroke
lawsuit contact us to confer with a Risperdal stroke lawsuit
attorney. A stroke is a disease of the brain that can affect the entire
body.
