LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday overturned a $1.2 billion judgment against Johnson & Johnson in a lawsuit challenging the drugmaker's marketing of the antipsychotic drug Risperdal.
The court ruled that the state improperly sued under a law that applies to health-care facilities, not pharmaceutical companies.
The ruling comes in an appeal of lawsuit filed by Arkansas against the drugmaker and subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals. The state says the companies didn't properly communicate the drug's risks and marketed it for off-label use, calling the practices fraudulent.
Johnson & Johnson said there was no fraud and Arkansas' Medicaid program wasn't harmed.
Risperdal and similar antipsychotic drugs have been linked to increased risk of strokes and death in elderly patients, along with seizures, weight gain and diabetes.