The antipsychotic drug Risperdal was marketed for children and adolescents by Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen unit after warnings by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration not to do so, a witness told jurors. Janssen’s marketing to children began after the drug’s introduction in 1994 and continued until the FDA’s first approval for pediatric uses in 2006, jurors in state court in Austin, Texas, heard yesterday from attorney Arnold Friede, an expert witness for the state. Texas seeks at least $579 million from J&J, claiming it defrauded the state Medicaid program by hyping Risperdal and overbilling.
