A Philadelphia judge said Thursday that Johnson & Johnson chief executive officer Alex Gorsky cannot be called as a trial witness by lawyers for a 17-year-old boy whose family sued the company because he grew breasts after taking Risperdal, an antipsychotic drug made by J&J. In a big victory for the health-care giant, Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Arnold New agreed to the request by J&J defense lawyers to quash the subpoena from the boy's attorneys. J&J said in a motion that Gorsky was scheduled to be in Asia on business. But the company clearly wanted to avoid having its CEO called to the stand to answer - publicly, under oath - allegations of inappropriate marketing of the drug to children and harmful side effects.
