Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Pharmaceutica unit pushed sales representatives to promote its antipsychotic drug Risperdal for uses not approved by regulators, three former salespeople said in a lawsuit against the company.
J&J tried to promote Risperdal for conditions beyond schizophrenia, its approved use until December 2003, according to sworn statements among almost 1,000 pages of documents in the case in Trenton, New Jersey. To boost sales of the medicine, J&J urged doctors to prescribe Risperdal for conditions such as bipolar disorder and depression, the declarations say.
“We (sales representatives) were directed to grow share in these off-label populations,” ex-saleswoman Kristel Kellner said in a statement as part of the lawsuit filed by Lynn Powell, one of the former salespeople. Powell claims J&J fired her in 2004 for complaining about such practices, violating a law shielding workers from retaliation.
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