Drug Company Criminal Settlement: $2.2 Billion for Illegally Marketing Risperdal to Elderly, Children and Mentally Disabled
On the surface, Johnson & Johnson's $2.2 billion settlement this week for illegally marketing drugs to the elderly, children and the mentally disabled looks like a victory. J&J's subsidiary, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, will plead guilty to illegally promoting the antipsychotic Risperdal for "controlling aggression and anxiety in elderly dementia patients and treating behavioral disturbances in children and in individuals with disabilities," reports Reuters. The promotions included a brazen kickback scheme to Omnicare Inc, a pharmacy supplying nursing homes, exposed by a whistleblower. At least 15,000 elderly people in nursing homes die a year from drugs like Risperdal said FDA drug reviewer David Graham in Congressional testimony a few years ago. Eli Lilly, who makes the similar drug Zyprexa, and AstraZeneca, who makes Seroquel, have also settled charges that they churned the elderly drug market at the price of Grandma and Grandpa's lives. But it is not a victory. J&J made $24.2 billion off Risperdal from 2003 to 2010 and shareholders won't even notice this week's nano loss. J&J milked Risperdal for all it was worth and the patent had already run out by the time it was charged with illegal schemes.
