Some of the Commonwealth Court’s judges seemed skeptical at oral arguments Wednesday as to whether Janssen Pharmaceutica defrauded the state government out of $150 million in payments for antipsychotic drug Risperdal or if it was just a lack of research by public officials that led the Medicaid program to pay for the more expensive drug.
Pennsylvania appealed to the Commonwealth Court a Philadelphia judge’s nonsuit of its claims against Janssen, now operating as Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., a division of Johnson & Johnson. An en banc panel of the court heard arguments Wednesday as to whether the state did, or even needed to, prove it relied upon marketing from Janssen that Risperdal, at $4 a pill, was superior to other drugs like Haldol, which was 50 cents a pill. The state is seeking damages of $3.50 the difference between the two pills for each Risperdal pill that was reimbursed by Medicaid between 1994 and 2008.
