A man who grew breasts after taking a drug to help with symptoms of autism has been awarded $11.8 billion (8 billion USD) in compensation.
A court in Philadelphia heard that claimant Nicholas Murray, 26, had grown breasts after taking Risperal when he was a child, reported CBS News.
Pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson were accused of failing to warn customers that the drug was linked to an incurable condition called gynecomastia.
Mr Murray’s lawyers, Jason Itkin and Tom Kline, claimed Johnson & Johnson had made billions of dollars by marketing and promoting the drug illegally.
Mr Murray said he had been prescribed Risperol when he was nine, even though the drug was approved to treat schizophrenia and bipolar in adults at that time.
A jury found that Johnson & Johnson had failed to warn of the alleged side effect and awarded Mr Murray the gigantic sum in damages.
Johnson & Johnson called the decision ‘grossly disproportionate’, said ‘key evidence’ had been excluded and announced they would make a bid to challenge the verdict.
In a statement they said, ‘This award is grossly disproportionate with the initial compensatory award in this case, and the Company is confident it will be overturned.
‘The Company was precluded from presenting a meaningful defense due to the Court’s exclusion of key evidence. As a result, the jury did not hear evidence as to how the label for RISPERDAL® clearly and appropriately outlined the risks associated with the medicine, or the benefits RISPERDAL® provides to patients with serious mental illness.
‘Further, the plaintiff’s attorneys failed to present any evidence that the plaintiff was actually harmed by the alleged conduct.’
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