|
The settlement's provisions are to remain in effect for at least five years. The plaintiffs seek compensation of up to $10 million for attorneys' fees, plus $450,000 for expenses such as gathering expert testimony in the case, which began in the spring of 2010 as more recalls occurred and serious legal problems came to light. Earlier that year, the Justice Department joined a whistleblower lawsuit alleging that a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary paid tens of millions of dollars in illegal kickbacks to a company that provided prescription drugs to nursing home patients, to boost patients' use of a powerful antipsychotic drug called Risperdal linked to increased risk of death for elderly people with dementia. The company is negotiating a settlement of that case with the government and is expected to pay penalties in the range of $2 billion. The settlement notes that J&J subsidiaries in 2010 paid about $82 million in penalties to resolve criminal and civil charges over marketing an epilepsy drug, Topamax, for unapproved use in children. Later that year, the Food and Drug Administration ordered another J&J subsidiary, DePuy Orthopedics, to stop selling a hip replacement system it was marketing illegally. Meanwhile, manufacturing deficiencies have led to about three dozen product recalls since September 2009, keeping about 70 percent of Johnson & Johnson's nonprescription medicines for infants and children, plus many for adults, off the market for more than two years. The lost sales have been costing the company hundreds of millions of dollars a year, on top of the expense of gutting and completely rebuilding a huge consumer health products factory in suburban Philadelphia. The tentative settlement is being reviewed by U.S. District Judge Freda Wolfson in Trenton, N.J. She is expected to grant preliminary approval on Aug. 6, at which point the settlement details would be sent to Johnson & Johnson shareholders, a large number of whom are pension funds and other institutional investors. After a period for comment by shareholders, final approval could be granted in the fall.
[Associated
Press;
Copyright 2012 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
News | Sports | Business | Rural Review | Teaching & Learning | Home and Family | Tourism | Obituaries
Community |
Perspectives
|
Law & Courts |
Leisure Time
|
Spiritual Life |
Health & Fitness |
Teen Scene
Calendar
|
Letters to the Editor