In its quest to market Risperdal far and wide, Janssen developed an educational initiative for “CNA” (Children and Adolescents) to advise the foremost experts in child psychiatry. The basic plan seems to have been this:
- Step One. Convince child psychiatrists and influential health professionals that Risperdal was safe/effective for use in children and adolescents for a variety of conditions.
- Step Two. Leverage this “educational influence” to reap more profits.
Again: that may seem like a cartoonishly cynical calculus — something an evil syndicate in a James Bond movie might dream up. But the facts speak for themselves: the company pursued this exact strategy. Of course, executives at Johnson & Johnson and Janssen obviously wanted to avoid being perceived as villains, so they approached their strategy slyly.
For instance, in 2002, the drug company donated millions of dollars to establish the Johnson & Johnson Center for Pediatric Psychopathology at the Massachusetts General Hospital. On the surface, that act seemed altruistic. By creating a center devoted to developing drugs and therapies for children, the company was really “giving back to the community.”
Right?
The center’s mission statement tells a decidedly different story: “The mission of the center is to create common ground for strategic collaboration between Johnson & Johnson and the pediatric psychopharmacology research program at the Massachusetts General Hospital. The essential feature of the center is to… move forward with the commercial goals of J&J.”
That last line is worth repeating: “The essential feature of the center is to… move forward with the commercial goals of J&J.”
In other words, building the center was a public relations gambit — intended to make it look like J&J wanted to help sick children. In really, the company merely wanted an inside seat at the table to push its own business interests.
In 2003, the Federal and Drug Administration allowed J&J to market a type of quick dissolving formulation of Risperdal, known as “M-Tabs.” Executives for the drug maker seized upon this approval to start marketing M-Tabs to kids, even though the FDA had only approved them for adults. One executive spoke excitedly about “M-Tab starter kits… [which would include] lollipops or small toys to be included in the kit along with a coupon and 1 box of sample. These will be great to use on any child and adolescents psychiatrist that you have…”
From statements like this, it appears clear that the drug maker would stop at nothing to get to access the “lucrative” child and adolescent market. There was only one glaring problem with the plan: good data suggested that elevated prolactin levels in children – driven by drugs like Risperdal – could cause serious side effects.
For insight into your Risperdal case, call the Davis & Crump team now at 800-277-0300 or email us at info@daviscrump.com.
