The Pennsylvania Superior Court has upheld the $2.5 million verdict that was awarded in the first case to go to trial from Philadelphia’s Risperdal mass tort program.

A unanimous three-judge panel on Wednesday rejected drugmaker Janssen Pharmaceuticals’ efforts to overturn the verdict in Pledger v. Janssen Pharmaceuticals, which a Philadelphia jury handed up more than three years ago. The ruling also sent the case back for the trial court to consider whether the plaintiffs should be able to proceed with punitive damages claims.