J & J goes to trial March 2012 for marketing of antipsychotic Risperdal, Arkansas seeks $10K per prescription written

The state of Arkansas goes after $10,000 per prescription written in a 13 year period, Johnson and Johnson's antipsychotic Risperdal

VIA Bloomberg

"The state seeks a penalty of as much as $10,000 for each Risperdal prescription written in Arkansas over a 13-year period starting in 1994 in connection with the Medicaid fraud claim, Robert Cowan, one of the state’s lawyers, said in an interview in August.

J&J’s lawyers countered J&J and Janssen officials provided proper warnings about Risperdal’s diabetes risks on the drug’s label and that federal regulators had approved that label.

The state’s efforts to tie its labeling claims to Medicare fraud should fail because “compliance with federal drug labeling statutes and regulations is not a condition of payment or participating in a” state Medicaid program, the companies’ lawyers said in a July 29 court filing.

State Lawsuits

J&J and the Janssen unit have been sued by 11 states seeking reimbursement for Medicaid or other public funds paid on Risperdal prescriptions, the company said. The lawsuits allege that J&J promoted the drug for dementia, mood and anxiety disorders and other unapproved uses, or downplayed risks."