J&J’s Risperdal Consta Found No Better Than Cheaper Drugs

Johnson & Johnson’s antipsychotic therapy Risperdal Consta, its third-best-selling drug, fared no better than less-expensive treatments at keeping schizophrenia patients out of the hospital, U.S. researchers said.

Thirty-nine percent of patients on Risperdal Consta, a twice-monthly injection, were hospitalized during the three-year analysis, about the same as those who took other drugs as a daily pill, a study released yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine showed. People on J&J’s treatment also had more side effects, among them headaches and muscle tremors, scientists said.