$8 Million Verdict in CA Risperdal Lawsuit

On October 16, 2015, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury awarded $8 million to Marion Liu in her action against Janssen Research & Development LLC, arising from the 2009 death of her son Augustine. At the time of his death, Augustine, a 25 year-old diagnosed Schizophrenic, had been participating in a company-sponsored clinical study of the antipsychotic medication Risperdal. Augustine Liu died of cardiac arrest less than one week after his first injection of the drug. 

Liu argued that Janssen’s clinicians should have obtained independent consent from Augustine’s guardian before he participated in the study, since the lead investigator in the study was also his psychiatrist. Additionally, Liu maintained that her son should have been removed from the study immediately after his condition deteriorated. Liu’s attorney, Simona Farrise, said that Augustine “was tragically used as a human guinea pig to test a dangerous drug without taking proper safety precautions, all in the name of profits.”

This verdict is significant because the injuries at issue are not those commonly seen in Risperdal litigation, the vast majority of such claims alleging that the drug caused gynecomastia, the development of abnormally large breasts in boys.

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