Johnson & Johnson’s Drug Risperdal Raises Tumor Questions

A June 17th article in the Wall St. Journal raised questions about Johnson & Johnson’s antipsychotic drug Risperdal. According to the story, government researchers found a higher incidence of benign tumors in the pituitary gland among patients taking the drug. The Journal article noted that the finding is preliminary and their is no definitive link proving the drug caused the tumors. Researchers analyzed 2.5 million adverse events reported by doctors and found that of the 307 reports of pituitary tumors 64 or 21% occurred in patients taking antipsychotics. Risperdal is a widely prescribed drug used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Last year, it was J&J’s second biggest selling drug with world wide sales of $3.1 billion