I’d love to get my hands on the transcripts for this case.
Oct. 28 (Bloomberg) -- A sales representative for Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Pharmaceutica unit testified that he encouraged doctors to prescribe the antipsychotic drug Risperdal for unapproved uses.
Matthew D. Thompson, testifying today in a trial over claims by a former co-worker, said that in 2002 he pushed doctors to consider prescribing Risperdal in combination with other drugs, so-called augmentation therapy, even though government regulators hadn’t approved this use. Janssen’s training didn’t include any specific prohibitions against promoting the drug that way, he said.
“I’m not saying the company tried to hide it, but we didn’t think about augmentation in the realm of on-label or off- label at that time,” Thompson said. He said he was “probably” aware that promotion of such sales was illegal.
Source: J&J Salesman Says He Sold Drug for Unapproved Uses (Update3) - Bloomberg.com
