Drug Company to Pay Idaho in Settlement

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Big pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson is paying $1.3 million to Idaho as part of a multi-billion-dollar national settlement over allegations it illegally promoted an antipsychotics drug.

The Idaho attorney general's office announced the deal with the company's Janssen Pharmaceuticals unit on Monday. It resolves allegations that Janssen unlawfully induced doctors and pharmacists to promote and prescribe Risperdal, a drug approved by the federal government for adults with mental illnesses starting in 1993.

In total, Johnson & Johnson is paying over $2.2 billion to resolve criminal and civil allegations the company promoted powerful psychiatric drugs for unapproved uses in children, seniors and disabled patients. The agreement is the third-largest U.S. settlement with a drug maker and the latest in several actions against drug companies allegedly putting profits ahead of patients.