$258M judgement against ‘big pharma’ company Johnson & Johnson upheld

A $258 million judgment against health products maker Johnson & Johnson has been upheld by a state appeals court. A three-judge panel of the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal upheld a St. Landry Parish jury's decision that the company owed the money to the state for defrauding the Medicaid program, by misleading Louisiana doctors about the possible side effects of one of its anti-psychotic medications. Attorney General Buddy Caldwell's office had argued the New Brunswick, N.J.-based company, through its subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceutical Inc., had violated a state law against misrepresentation and fraud, in marketing the schizophrenia drug Risperdal. A Janssen Pharmaceuticals spokeswoman says the company will appeal the decision to the Louisiana Supreme Court, saying there was no evidence that a fraudulent claim was submitted to the Medicaid program.