Philadelphia Judge Slashes $8 Billion Risperdal Verdict

ATRA is encouraged by Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Kenneth Powell’s decision to slash the $8 billion punitive damages verdict against Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. in a single-plaintiff Risperdal case.  The outsized verdict and the court’s underlying decisions were a main driver behind the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas being named the American Tort Reform Foundation’s #1 Judicial Hellhole in 2019.

There are over 7,000 Risperdal lawsuits pending in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas’ Complex Litigation Center, and recently, Pennsylvania courts have found that patients were aware of the associated risks of the medication as early as 2006.  That essential fact should be central to resolving these remaining claims.