Steve Brill's exposé on J&J, Risperdal: 'America's Most Admired Lawbreaker'

Medications help a lot of people and thats especially true in schizophrenia, but that doesn’t mean that they are marketed and sold in an ethical way; especially in the USA where laws are lax and money / business drive many aspects of politics and laws.

Brill and Huffington Post are combining for a 58,000-word, 15-part Brill-reported series, “America’s Most Admired Law Breaker.” The unsparing investigation details how giant Johnson & Johnson violated FDA restrictions in its marketing and sale of a wildly successful anti-psychotic drug, Risperdal.

Risperdal is a billion-dollar antipsychotic medicine with real benefits — and a few unfortunate side effects.

It can cause strokes among the elderly. And it can cause boys to grow large, pendulous breasts; one boy developed a 46DD bust.

Yet Johnson & Johnson marketed Risperdal aggressively to the elderly and to boys while allegedly manipulating and hiding the data about breast development. J&J got caught, pleaded guilty to a crime and has paid more than $2 billion in penalties and settlements. But that pales next to some $30 billion in sales of Risperdal around the world.

In short, crime pays, if you’re a major corporation.

You can read the full story (15 parts long) here:

Or some news on the long article here:

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They don’t ever lose, because in some cases, they will market a new pill to combat what caused problems in the other pill.

I used to think that the high cost of Risperdal and Invega was the reason I was on SSI and had to live by its restrictions. I later found out it was due to the fact schizophrenia was a pre-existing condition and my parents were afraid to let me go without health insurance. I go to a pharmacy where they show the price of the medication on the label and Invega has risen from $900 to almost $2,000 a month for 12 mg a day due to the lawsuits and the patent extension which was to expire in 2012 but has been magically extended. How my state insurance can and is willing to pay for it amazes me. Unfortunately Invega is the best drug for me so I would have a difficult time getting on Obamacare as I am afraid any heath insurance company would see red at the cost of the meds if I was employed to any such company. I also need to develop the job skills to get a job at a company that sponsors such a service. I am so tired of doing nothing but I have been very sick recently and have erratic sleep patterns. I wish I knew what medical costs health insurance companies are willing to incur for any employee a local company would hire but obviously they won’t do that. I also wish there was a guarantee that the Mental Health Parity Act will work like it’s supposed to and not be repealed. I would like to thank J&J for the help with my illness their drugs provide but I wish the prices were lower, the business dealings were more honest, and a greater emphasis were made on a cure rather than a pill that I take forever that didn’t make me so obese as I have steadily gained weight on both drugs.

It’s heard to tell if it’s just the weight gain or risperdal, but my chest seems to have excess fat, especially around my nipples. My chest has become pointy.

Its an unfortunate situation really.
Risperdal causes a lot of different side effects but it is also one of the more effective APs against positive symptoms.

I stick with Risperdal because its Effective for me - controlling my bipolar and schizoaffective symptoms.

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