Johnson & Johnson created a powerful drug, promoted it illegally & covered up side effects

[nationalize the fed]

America's Most Admired Lawbreaker



Huffington Post Highline: Over the course of 20 years, Johnson & Johnson created a powerful drug, promoted it illegally to children and the elderly, covered up the side effects and made billions of dollars. This is the inside story

A 15 Chapter expose by Steven Brill

http://highline.huffingtonpost.com/miracleindustry/americas-most-admired-lawbreaker/



Letter From the Editors

At some point over the course of this massive, magisterial 15-chapter story, you will get angry, and you will stay angry. It may happen when you learn that Johnson & Johnson handed out promotional Legos to pediatricians so that they’d be more likely to prescribe a drug called Risperdal to children with behavioral problems, although the FDA had repeatedly told the company not to market it to children. It may happen when you read that a team of scientists and company executives decided to massage the numbers on a study showing that Risperdal puts little boys at risk of developing large breasts—46DD breasts in the case of Austin Pledger, whom you can see in this video. Or it may happen at one of a few dozen other points in this 20-year history of the drug, which ended up being a blockbuster for J&J even if you account for $3 billion and counting in legal claims.

And that’s what's so impressive about this project by Steven Brill, one of our era’s best reporters. We all either take prescription drugs or love someone who does. Many of us depend on them to live. We may be aware that drug companies occasionally release bad products or take pains to get around government regulations. But we still know far too little about the culture of the industry that produced the Risperdal scandal, and who the people are behind these life-and-death decisions. Steven has made all of that clear. You read the damning emails, you examine the internal documents, you see the close relationship between J&J salespeople and their hired scientists and feel as if you’re inside the room when plaintiffs’ attorneys figure out a way to fight back.

Rarely are systems—giant, seemingly impenetrable bureaucracies—laid this bare and made this human. It’s thrilling.

Then, there’s the presentation aspect of it. In order to show you why people made the choices they did, and what incentives they were operating under, we’re telling the story in Dickensian detail—one chapter a day, for 15 days. You need to get to know the people involved, to see how they were shaped by the system over the course of years, and to understand how hard it is for even modest victories to be achieved on behalf of those who were hurt by Johnson & Johnson. We also want this project to be as democratic as possible. We’re providing dozens of critical documents so you can take in the full context and decide for yourself how fair we’re being. The hope is that we’re creating a new kind of experience for readers: one that combines the comprehensiveness of a book with the interactivity and immediacy of the web.

Anyway, you can tell we’re proud of this one. The pharmaceutical industry deserves this kind of scrutiny. Now, let’s see what comes of it.

Thanks for reading,
Greg Veis and Rachel Morris

***************************



Chapter One of Fifteen

Backstage at Johnson & Johnson

On May 20, about 100 stock analysts gathered in the ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Brunswick, New Jersey, to hear good news from top executives at Johnson & Johnson: The company had 10 new drugs in the pipeline that might achieve more than a billion dollars in annual sales.

For 129 years, New Brunswick has served as the headquarters of J&J, America’s seventh most valuable public company. With consumer products from Band-Aids to baby powder, Neutrogena to Rogaine, Listerine to Visine, Aveeno to Tylenol and Sudafed to Splenda, Johnson & Johnson is the biggest and, according to multiple surveys, most admired
corporation in the world’s most prosperous industry—healthcare.

But the real money—about 80 percent of its revenue and 91 percent of its profit—comes not from those consumer favorites, but from Johnson & Johnson’s high-margin medical devices: artificial hips and knees, heart stents, surgical tools and monitoring devices; and from still higher-margin prescription drugs targeting Crohn’s disease (Remicade), cancer (Zytiga, Velcade), schizophrenia (Risperdal), diabetes (Invokana), psoriasis (Stelara), migraines (Topamax), heart disease (Xarelto) and attention deficit disorder (Concerta).

How J&J Makes Its Money...snip


...The Cost of Doing Business

Johnson & Johnson has already settled thousands of cases involving illicit promotion of Risperdal, including Department of Justice civil and criminal complaints, for a total fast approaching $3 billion.

But on the morning of the analysts’ meeting, the company was still manning the battle stations with squadrons of lawyers fighting off another 4,200 cases, snip More>
http://highline.huffingtonpost.com/miracleindustry/americas-most-admired-lawbreaker/


Steven Brill

Steven is a veteran journalist and media entrepreneur. He has won two National Magazine Awards and his last book, America’s Bitter Pill, was a New York Times bestseller.


See also: Johnson and Johnson- Illegal Marketing of Risperdal
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson_%26_Johnson#Illegal_Marketing_of_Risperdal

[djean111]

1. Wonder if we will get the "BUT SCIENCE!" folks in here.

I have to admire, or despise, the zealousness with which anything not from big Pharma or Big Monsanto is pushed over anything that does not turn a profit for Big Pharma and Big Monsanto.
Those two would poison entire countries for a profit. And then have bills passed which exempt them from liability. Oh, wait - they already did that.

[Orrex]

3. You certainly will

Because no one condemns the abuse and bastardization of science more strongly than do the actual proponents of science, as repeatedly demonstrated right here on DU.

Fans of alt-med and other pseudoscience love to present themselves as brave defenders of truth and reason, but in fact they take a back seat to people who truly respect and value the principle of actual science.


Johnson & Johnson should be condemned and publicly shamed for this gross violation. There is no ambiguity here.

[CanSocDem]

9. "...the actual proponents of science..."

Whoever they are...Do you mean the private companies like J&J whose prime objective is to sell you something? Or do you mean the FDA who looks out for your interests?

"We may be aware that drug companies occasionally release bad products or take pains to get around government regulations. But we still know far too little about the culture of the industry that produced the Risperdal scandal, and who the people are behind these life-and-death decisions."

And another quote from the article that you probably won't read:

"Thus, for Johnson & Johnson to expand the market to reach its business plan targets, doctors had to be sold on the value of Risperdal in populations that were not included on the label as the drug’s intended users. Yet it was a crime for the company to sell the doctors on the benefits of using Risperdal to treat those populations."

ScienceINC. at work.


.

[LanternWaste]

21. Which may consistently be applied to fans of pharmaceutical companies...

"Fans of alt-med and other pseudoscience love to present themselves as brave defenders of truth and reason..."


Which may consistently be applied to fans of pharmaceutical companies... both of which number dramatically low on DU, yet often illustrated as a much greater collective than they indeed, are.

[bananas]

2. k&r nt

[Demeter]

4. This drug keeps my daughter sane--it's not the drug, it's the prescription!

Misusing a drug is wrong.

Slamming the drug because doctors are making mistakes is no service to anyone.

And as soon as a similar acting drug with fewer side effects becomes available, everyone will benefit. But this kind of smear can delay or prevent that work.

[Ilsa]

6. It is the drug. My son was on a low dose. Started

developing tics and jerks. I recognized it as tardive dyskinesia, which can become permanent. There was no dosage abuse.

My son was on it for aggressive behaviors. It seemed to be a lifesaver for us, but it was harming him.

I know how difficult this is, being caught between a rock and a hard place in managing your child's behavior. Yes, there's a trade-off -- the risk of the drug vs being able to participate in school, socially, etc. I hope your doctor showed you what to look for in serious side effects. Good luck.

[mhatrw]

8. Exactly. When we police Big Pharma, everyone loses!

Only when we all let Big Pharma profit however it wants does everyone benefit.

[WinkyDink]

28. So "promoted it illegally" means "promoted it legally" to you?

[Ilsa]

5. Risperdal can cause tardive dyskinesia, too.

And that can become a serious chronic side effect, worse than gynecomastia.

[restorefreedom]

7. in other words, wednesday. nt

[LuvNewcastle]

10. Psychiatry is hit or miss.

People with serious disorders usually try at least a few different drugs before they find the right combination. Risperdal has good points and bad points, like any other strong drug. For some, the good outweighs the bad, for others it's the opposite. If they had never marketed the drug to children, like they were told, J&J wouldn't be in this mess. Risperdal is an effective drug, and it's also rather cheap, but I think it should never be given to children. There are some things we can take that are too strong for children. That's why we don't share our liquor with them.

[Dustlawyer]

11. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, other RW think tanks, and many corporations

pushed hard for Tort Reform. They used fake grass roots "Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse" and the media who presented as fact that trial attorneys file nothing but frivolous lawsuits. They made the most extreme lawsuits seem like they were the norm. They twisted cases like the McDonalds coffee case to seem like jury's going amuck when the lady almost died and Mickey D's had raised the temp of their coffee to make it go farther. It had already seriously burned several people before she was hurt, but their profits were higher so they kept doing it. The media presented it as "Woman spills coffee on self and sues for millions" without ever explaining that the woman lost her labia and clitoris and McDonalds knew they were burning people severely.

All of this has resulted in caps on damages and severe restrictions on our ability to even file a suit in certain types of cases. This has made us all much less safe. In the McDonalds case the chain reduced their coffee temp back to industry standard so no more 1st and 2nd degree burns. Now, companies like Shell Oil, when working on their refinery on a unit, which while shut down costs them a million an hour and the job takes 48 hours by the book, can take a short cut which exposes the workers to a dangerous gas (H2S) and save 30 million. If they end up killing 2 or 3 workers the caps protect them. Next time it needs to be shut down they will try it again since they have no risk of very high punitive damages. This is the danger and the corporate media is complicit in this situation existing.

Now generic drug manufacturors have immunity from lawsuits. Corporations get what they want through the politicians they own as well as the media they also own. We the people have very few rights anymore and have no idea until something happens and they come see someone like me. Jury's have been brainwashed before they ever come to court that Plaintiffs and their lawyers are only looking for "Jack Pot Justice!"

[mountain grammy]

14. And the American public are the suckers.

I don't think two months go by without seeing a post somewhere about a "ridiculous frivolous" lawsuit. People getting rich from their own stupidity, or so it seems. Spend two minutes to google the case, and there is so much more to the story. Funny thing is, I see these posts from people I know who profess to be anti corporate, but are so easily suckered by corporate bullshit. Sadly, I admit to being that way myself, not so many years ago, until I finally woke up to the corporate media manipulation of news stories and facts.

I remember reading "1984" and thinking, people would never be that gullible. What a silly, gullible, twelve year old was I.

[uponit7771]

12. The setup for this story is pretty good... Those people who did this should be in jail

[erronis]

19. We'll have to get the Prison Industries to build more bunks - pharma, bankers, lobbyists, congress,

Or, we could empty the current cells of people that have been wrongly accused and jailed, people that didn't harm others, people who have received draconian sentences for minor crimes; and we can get the real crooks to bed down. Oh, no need to change the sheets before.

[Omaha Steve]

13. Thanks for posting

K&R!

OS

[nationalize the fed]

25. Thanks for reading and caring about it nt

[mountain grammy]

15. Thanks for posting..

Way past time to put the brakes on big pharma.

Capitalism at it's greediest.

[nationalize the fed]

31. Thank You for caring!

Please forward to everyone on your list.

[canoeist52]

16. Here is the key crime. They used the poor as cash-cow guinea-pigs.

"Beginning in 1995, Janssen executives focused on a quick-win priority: make Risperdal the new drug of choice at state-run Medicaid programs that provide healthcare for the poor, including children in state-run mental health facilities and the elderly in state-run nursing homes. Promoting the drug quietly to institutions, rather than broadly to thousands of individual doctors, was more efficient—and less likely to arouse the suspicions of the FDA.

Risperdal pricing compared to Haldol
Jan. 10, 2012 (p.15)

The goal: get Risperdal at the top of the states’ lists of approved drugs, called formularies, even though the price would be 40 to 50 times the cost per dose of first-generation antipsychotics, such as Haldol, that were now available as generics."

[nationalize the fed]

36. +1

The goal: get Risperdal at the top of the states’ lists of approved drugs, called formularies, even though the price would be 40 to 50 times the cost per dose of first-generation antipsychotics, such as Haldol, that were now available as generics."

40-50 times the cost.

[Ichingcarpenter]

17. Science!!!

for profit and greed

[pink-o]

18. Just finished reading "Chapter 2" of this story!

...and of all things, THIS stood out as capturing the entire clusterfuck in a nutshell:

In November 1997, the Washington Legal Foundation, a non-profit that champions free markets, filed suit charging that the FDA’s guidelines on promoting drugs off-label deprived drug companies of their First Amendment right to offer information to doctors and deprived doctors...

A NON PROFIT that champions FREE MARKETS???? We're all goin' to hell

[appalachiablue]

20. K & R. Thanks for this informative post. Johnson & Johnson and Big Pharma modern scourge.

[blackspade]

22. Not at all shocking.

Death and misery for a buck. Disgusting.

[Enthusiast]

23. Kicked and recommended!

[Dont call me Shirley]

24. Criminals!

[gateley]

26. I'm a fan of alt-med AND I'm a fan of science-based meds.

It's not necessarily either/or -- that's a very limiting and dismissive statement you make.

As somebody pointed out, it's J&J's job to make money. Ask its shareholders. The big pharma's primary incentive and motive is profit, not that gateley gets help for her condition(s). That's what drives them to find solutions that DO help -- the resulting sales.

Not just limited to Big Pharma, of course, but they get away with it more easily.

[WinkyDink]

27. Can I finally remove my tin-foil hat and just have it acknowledged that CONSPIRACIES CAN AND DO

EXIST OVER YEARS, EVEN WITH LARGE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE, REPUTABLE PEOPLE, INVOLVED??????

[nationalize the fed]

32. +1

"Conspiracy Theory" became a derogatory term after JFK's head was blown apart, thanks to the CIA. And that didn't stop them!

[WinkyDink]

35. And then they finally got one of their own elected President.

[villager]

29. Science! Science! Only a "Woo" questions their corporate betters!

Upstart!

Hater of civilization!

[U4ikLefty]

33. I suspect Big Vitamin is behind this.

all those anti-medicine people scare me!1!11

[NuclearDem]

37. Some people are capable of separating the economics from the science.

These people can understand that J&J acting like dickbags doesn't invalidate the science behind pharmacology or even the benefits of this particular drug.

Others are less capable of making this distinction, however.

[villager]

39. Indeed. Some are.

n/t

[Faux pas]

30. Kickin' to read later.

[bobGandolf]

34. Change the company name and...

"

Johnson & Johnson

created a powerful drug, promoted it illegally & covered up side effects "


All you need to do is change the company name to a different one....THIS practice has been going on for years. To the Pharma Companies the "General Public" is used for long-term studies.

[Archae]

38. I would trust this article more...

If it came from a more credible source than the Huffer Post.

The Huffington Post has given space to just about any and every woo imaginable, cancer "cures," homeopathy, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a laudatory article there on phrenology.

[nationalize the fed]

40. How many of the source documents

provided in the 15 chapter piece have you examined?

Huff post is the publisher. Steven Brill is the author. But you knew that.

Steven Brill (born August 22, 1950)[1] is an American lawyer and journalist-entrepreneur. Brill's most recent reporting and book is concerned with healthcare costs.

Brill was born in Queens, New York. He is a graduate of Deerfield Academy (B.A. 1972) and Yale University law school (J.D. 1975)...

In 1989 Brill founded Court TV (now TruTV) and the network launched on July 1, 1991. Among its original anchors were Fred Graham, who was still at the network twenty years later, Cynthia McFadden and Terry Moran, who later joined ABC News....

...In 2009, Brill and two other media executives created Journalism Online to help newspapers and magazines charge for online access...

...In February 2013 Brill published Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us as a Time magazine magazine cover story. The investigation of billing practices revealed that hospitals and their executives are gaming the system to maximize revenue. Brill claims patients receive bills that have little relationship to the care provided and that the free market in American medicine is a myth, with or without Obamacare.[20] The 24,000-plus word article took up the entire feature section of the magazine, the first time in the history of TIME...

...Brill's newest healthcare reporting project, "America’s Most Admired Law Breaker," is a 15-part series detailing how Johnson & Johnson took an anti-psychotic drug, Risperdal, initially intended only for the treatment of psychotic disorders, and put it in the hands of children and the elderly in violation of FDA restrictions. It was published on September 15, 2015 on The Huffington Post...
Much MORE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Brill_(journalist)

[Archae]

42. AGAIN...

This is the Huffington Post, 2 years ago:

Arianna Huffington is – as most of you know – the socialite founder of Huffington Post. Despite other potential virtues, the Huffington Post’s attitude to science, especially in their health and well-being sections, is more than questionable; indeed, Huffpo is an abysmally shameless pusher of pseudoscience and woo, including anti-vaccinationism, Deepak Chopra-style altmed garbage; and self-help articles most of all reminiscent of The Secret. Luminaries who have written for the site include self help guru and pseudo-“Native American” spirituality rip-off peddler James Arthur Ray (to be covered); John Morton, current spiritual director of the new-age group John-Roger's Movement for Inner Spiritual Awareness; altmed loon Andrew Weil; as well as homeopath and internet troll Dana Ullman (see this, for instance). Reasonable people have thus repeatedly called for a boycott, and there is a good discussion of Huffpo’s preference for bogus claims about medicine over reality here - Huffington herself says that “[w]hen it comes to health and wellness issues, our goal is to provide a diverse forum for a reasoned discussion of issues of interest and importance to our readers.” Or, in other words, the Huffpo will not try to distinguish the correct from the wrong or even crazy, instead trying to promote a false balance.

http://americanloons.blogspot.com/2013/11/780-arianna-huffington.html

Now again...

Do you have a more credible source?
If you don't, just say so.

[Catherina]

41. Kicked, Rec'd and bookmarked n/t