United States Supreme Court Upholds $124 Million Trial Victory by BPB

HOUSTON, Feb. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- On January 12, 2016, the United States Supreme Court upheld a $124 million trial victory that BPB secured for its client, the State of South Carolina, in 2011 (Ortho-McNeil-Janssen, et al. v. South Carolina, ex rel. Wilson, Case No. 15-600).

The Supreme Court refused to hear Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s appeal of the $124 million judgment, which had already been upheld by the South Carolina Supreme Court.

Bailey Peavy Bailey Cowan Heckaman PLLC (BPB) represented the State of South Carolina in the trial and appeals, together with South Carolina co-counsel. As a result of the Supreme Court's decision, the $124 million deceptive trade practices judgment concerning Janssen's false and misleading marketing of its powerful antipsychotic drug becomes payable to the State, plus accrued interest.

BPB and its co-counsel battled Janssen for eight years over the company's deceptive marketing conduct in South Carolina. BPB served as lead trial lawyers in the case, together with local counsel, and took lead roles in strategizing and creating the appellate arguments and briefs after the trial. BPB's Rob Cowan, Elizabeth Dwyer, and Justin Jenson effectively steered the case from filing the complaint to securing the successful result for this very important and high profile client.

"We are very proud of our representation of South Carolina and all our state government clients and the results achieved," said Cowan, a partner with the firm, in a statement. "This firm has demonstrated time and again it has the resources, mettle, and willingness to stay with these long, expensive fights in litigation to obtain the results our client hired us to obtain."

The case centered on false and misleading communications that Janssen made to South Carolina doctors and others around the country about the safety of Risperdal, especially its safety in vulnerable populations like children and the fragile elderly. 

In 2011, a unanimous jury in Spartanburg, South Carolina, found at the end of the trial that Janssen had violated the State's unfair and deceptive practices act by failing to include important, missing safety information in its drug label, and by sending a letter to doctors in 2003 claiming that Risperdal did not cause certain side effects, though the FDA strongly differed with that letter. Ultimately, the trial court determined that Janssen had violated the statute approximately 500,000 times during the relevant period, and awarded penalties under the statute for each of those violations.

At BPB, we do not limit our representation to individuals who have been wronged. Our skilled litigators also stand up for organizations that have been defrauded or subject to wrongdoing by large corporations, including unions and state governments. When your legal situation needs the help of a seasoned and powerful attorney, call upon the legal team at BPB. We are ready to provide the aggressive representation you have been looking for. For more information about the firm, visit http://www.bpblaw.com/ or call (888) 367-7160.

SOURCE Bailey Peavy Bailey Cowan Heckaman PLLC

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