It is mainly used to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and irritability in people with autism. Thousands of boys and children have had to suffer through what would otherwise have been unnecessary surgeries and long-term medical care for these potentially permanent side effects.

Alleged Risperdal Side Effects

Serious Risperdal side effects include: Gynecomastia, Lactation, and Pituitary Tumors

Risperdal has been shown to increase the activity of a hormone known as prolactin which is produced by the pituitary gland. Prolactin levels are often at high levels in pregnant and nursing women which contributes to the creation of additional breast tissue and milk production. Risperdal has been shown to stimulate the pituitary gland and increase prolactin levels in males as well as females.

Risperdal appears to cause breast tissue development in males. This is known as gynecomastia. Risperdal has been reported to have caused gynecomastia in both male adults and children.

Premature breast tissue development has also been seen in girls, along with lactation developing in girls and women who are not pregnant. As with gynecomastia, premature breast tissue development in girls is permanent and may cause emotional trauma.

Risperdal has also been connected to the development of pituitary tumors. Increases in the size of the pituitary gland and tumor development caused by Risperdal can disrupt production of other hormone systems within the body. Risperdal use may be the cause of as many as 70% of all pituitary tumors that have been reported.

What is Gynecomastia?

Gynecomastia is the growth of female breasts on young males. The tissue is not cancerous, but it can be painful and can be embarrassing, especially for teenage males on whom it can have serious adverse psychological effects. For these reasons, surgery is often recommended. Severe gynecomastia may require a surgical procedure called a mastectomy, which involves the removal of breast tissue and excess skin. Because it involves glandular tissue, liposuction alone is usually not an effective treatment.

Link Between Risperdal and Gynecomastia

Researchers from the University of British Columbia examined a database of more than 400,000 young men between the ages of 15 and 25. They found that current users of Risperdal, including children and adolescent males, were five times more likely to develop breast tissue (gynecomastia) than those that did not take Risperdal or a similar drug. The findings were published in the August online edition of the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology.

More recently, data from a review of national health claims found that older men also were linked to these issues. They had a 69-percent higher likelihood of developing gynecomastia if they took Risperdal. That study, also conducted by researchers from the University of British Columbia, looked at data from one million men in the United States.

Contact the Monroe Law Group today for expert Risperdal legal assistance

The Monroe Law Group is accepting cases now for those who suffered from side effects following use of Risperdal. The physical and emotional effects of these Risperdal side effects like gynecomastia can be devastating.

Alert: Due to statute of limitations, the time you have to pursue a Risperdal claim is limited. Call us right away at 866-308-1092, email us at intake@monroelawgroup.com, or complete the form on this page now.

A Philadelphia jury Friday found J&J officials failed to properly warn the young man and his family that Risperdal could cause him to grow female-size breasts and awarded him damages for emotional distress, said Steve Sheller, one of the teenager’s lawyers. The verdict is about 30 times larger than the $2.5 million awarded to an Alabama man in 2015 who sued J&J after developing size 46 DD breasts.

Officials of J&J’s Janssen unit, which sells Risperdal, said the drug’s safety label contained proper warnings about the breast side effect. The company intends to challenge the verdict.
“We believe this verdict is not justified by the evidence, and that the award is clearly excessive and far out of line with any factual assessment of actual damages,” Kristina Chang, a Janssen spokeswoman, said in an e-mailed statement.

Philadelphia Juries

The verdict comes as J&J still faces about 1,500 cases in state court in Philadelphia over claims of the Risperdal side-effect. The ruling is the fifth time the drugmaker has been found by Philadelphia juries to have failed to properly warn users and doctors about the breast-development risk.

“This verdict sends a clear message to J&J to step up and take responsibility for the damage they’ve done to these young men and to set up a global settlement program so the families don’t have to continue to suffer through these trials,” Sheller said in an interview.
In 2013, J&J agreed to pay $2.2 billion to resolve criminal and civil probes into allegations that it illegally marketed Risperdal to children and the elderly. The settlement, which included marketing claims about two other J&J drugs, was one of the largest U.S. health-fraud penalties in history.

Past Verdicts

New Brunswick, New Jersey-based J&J has been settling some of the male breast cases filed in Philadelphia but has been hit with several verdicts, starting in February 2015 with the $2.5 million awarded to Austin Pledger, an autistic man from Alabama. In November, a separate jury in the same court later awarded $1.75 million to another Risperdal user who developed breasts.
Lawyers for the Tennessee resident, identified as A.Y. in court papers, told jurors he started taking Risperdal at age 5 to treat a psychiatric disorder and never received a warning about breast development. The teen is now 16, according to the filings.

They argued J&J officials intentionally kept pediatricians and psychiatrists in the dark about study results showing Risperdal caused abnormal breast development in boys so they’d keep writing prescriptions, Sheller said.

Alert: Due to statute of limitations, the time you have to pursue a Risperdal claim is limited. Call us right away at 866-308-1092, email us at intake@monroelawgroup.com, or complete the form on this page now.

The case is A.Y. v. Janssen, No. 130402094, Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas (Philadelphia).