If you look at the largest settlements by pharmaceutical companies in recent years, you’ll see a trend.
In several cases, the drugs themselves were fine. The design and manufacturing was exactly right, and they were effective when used properly.
However, the pharmaceutical companies were so eager to get their products in the hands of consumers that they would market the drugs in a deceptive way to doctors. That’s right — the people we trust most to keep us safe and healthy were being misled, themselves.
Drug representatives often engage in off-label promotion, which means they encourage doctors to prescribe drugs for treatment that isn’t approved by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) for that particular use.
For example, Johnson & Johnson paid a $2.2 billion settlement for a Risperdal lawsuit. Risperdal was approved in the early 2000s to treat schizophrenia. However, the company’s representatives were promoting it to physicians to treat elderly dementia patients for anxiety, agitation, depression, hostility and confusion. There were also reports that Risperdal was marketed to physicians for use in children and individuals with mental disabilities.
Risperdal was found to cause stroke or cardiac-related deaths in elderly patients. It can also cause breast growth in men.
The lawsuit claimed that J&J knew that the medication would be harmful when used in ways that were outside the FDA-approved uses. The marketing was deceptive and aggressive, failed to provide adequate warnings, and concealed side-effects.