Pledger v. Janssen
February 2015
Result: Jury Award of $2.5 Million
The Pledger case was the first Risperdal case to go to trial following the $2.2 billion settlement Johnson & Johnson reached with the Justice Department in 2013 for improperly marketing Risperdal to children (and older adults and people with developmental disabilities). A jury found the Johnson & Johnson was “negligent by failing to provide an adequate warning” to the prescribing doctor, and they found that defendants’ “negligent failure to provide an adequate warning was a cause of Austin Pledger’s gynecomastia.” The jury awarded the family $2.5 million.