Whistleblower Suit Reveals Johnson & Johnson Reps Sold Risperdal for “Unapproved Uses”

Up for a “profits over patient safety” story?  Good, because a pretty disturbing trial got under way in New Jersey yesterday involving a former sales rep for Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Pharmaceutica unit who says she was fired after complaining about pressure to illegally sell one of the company’s products for a non-FDA-approved (or “off label”) use.

The drug in question was Risperdal, which is FDA-approved for adults with schizophrenia—but not for children with bipolar disorder (the “off label” use at issue here). 

Check out the testimony of the whistleblower’s boss at the time, Mathew D. Thompson.

“In 2002, were you aware that making off-label claims was illegal?” [the whistleblower’s] attorney, John Thurman, asked [Thompson].

“I probably was,” Thompson replied.

Thompson was shown reports he filed after field visits with salespeople in 2003, including one describing a sales rep pressing a doctor for children and adolescents to consider Risperdal. Thompson commended the saleswoman for her skills in the sale, according to the report. He agreed under questioning that this was clearly off-label marketing.

And it gets worse.  Other cases involving Johnson & Johnson’s illegal promotion of Risperdal have been popping up across the country.

Of course we would be remiss if we didn’t also mention Johnson & Johnson is apparently a card-carrying member of the American Tort Reform Association (ATRA), an organization devoted to stripping injured consumers of their right to hold negligent corporations accountable in court.