This award is grossly disproportionate with the initial compensatory award in this case, and the Company is confident it will be overturned.
This award for a single plaintiff stands in stark contrast with the initial $680,000 compensatory award and is a clear violation of due process. United States Supreme Court precedent dictates that punitive damages awards that are a double-digit multiplier of the compensatory award should be set aside.
The Company was precluded from presenting a meaningful defense due to the Court’s exclusion of key evidence. As a result, the jury did not hear evidence as to how the label for RISPERDAL® clearly and appropriately outlined the risks associated with the medicine, or the benefits RISPERDAL® provides to patients with serious mental illness. Further, the plaintiff’s attorneys failed to present any evidence that the plaintiff was actually harmed by the alleged conduct.
This decision is inconsistent with multiple determinations outside of Philadelphia regarding the adequacy of the RISPERDAL® labeling, the medicine’s efficacy, and findings in support of the Company.
We will be immediately moving to set aside this excessive and unfounded verdict.