Johnson Johnson

Concerned about "suspicions" of overprescribing antipsychotic drugs, the Pentagon took steps in the last few weeks to limit the use of those powerful medicines to treat the growing legion of war fighters suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. For Stan and Shirley White, the limits can't go into effect soon enough because, in their case, it's already too late. The retired educators' youngest son, Andrew, was an Eagle scout, a baseball player, and an honor student in high school near the family home in Cross Lanes, W.Va.

M. Gail Judge, 62, a Johnson & Johnson executive, died of cancer at her home in Yardley on Saturday. Ms. Judge had a 26-year career with Johnson & Johnson, serving as vice president of human resources for McNeil Pharmaceutical in Spring House, Pa., where she also was a member of the management board. Her most recent position was as director of corporate management training and development. Before joining Johnson & Johnson, she was a member of the Sisters of Mercy and taught at Georgian Court College, Notre Dame High School in Lawrenceville, and Cathedral High School in Trenton.

Johnson & Johnson chief executive officer Bill Weldon, 63, will retire in April, after a string of product recalls that have embarrassed the health-care giant in recent years. Alex Gorsky, 51, one of two vice chairmen, will succeed Weldon at the company's annual meeting. Gorsky edged out fellow vice chair Sheri McCoy for the top spot with the company, which had $65 billion in sales with such names as Band-Aids and Tylenol, along with medical devices and pharmaceuticals. The last big acquisition on Weldon's watch - and one of the biggest in health care in 2011 - was the as-yet-unfinalized $21.3 billion takeover of the medical-device manufacturer Synthes Inc., which has operations in Chester County.

Johnson & Johnson became the first sponsor to abandon the scandal-ridden Olympics, backing off an estimated $30 million deal for the 2002 Winter Games. Company spokesman John McKeegan yesterday blamed the decision on internal disagreements about how to link the company's many brands under a sponsorship umbrella in time for the Salt Lake City Games. But he acknowledged that Olympic bribery was a factor. "We can't say that it didn't have anything to do with it," McKeegan said.

A federal jury in Philadelphia yesterday awarded almost $8 million in damages to Advanced Medical Inc. after finding that the Horsham company had lost a contract to distribute medical equipment because of interference by Johnson & Johnson and several subsidiaries. A U.S. District Court jury of five women and four men deliberated less than an hour and a half over two days before returning the verdict in favor of Advanced Medical. The case involved a 1986 contract between Advanced Medical and Arden Medical Inc. of Minneapolis, later bought by Johnson & Johnson.

Johnson & Johnson said yesterday that net earnings climbed 17 percent last year, helped by demand for products ranging from its Remicade arthritis medication to a treatment for anemia. Fourth-quarter profit surged 30 percent, boosted by robust sales of medical devices for the heart and prescription drugs, including Remicade, which is manufactured by Centocor Inc., a J&J subsidiary in Malvern. "It's as impressive as it gets," Morningstar Inc. analyst Todd Lebor said. "What's most impressive is the jump in operating margin.

The McNeil Consumer Healthcare plant in Fort Washington, Montgomery County, will not resume production until at least 2013, Johnson & Johnson's chief executive officer, Bill Weldon, said Tuesday as the company reported 2011 full-year and fourth-quarter financial results. Recalls, repairs, litigation, and costs related to the acquisition of Synthes Inc. played a big part in J&J's profit dropping 88.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 compared with the same period a year earlier.

Johnson & Johnson, blaming some of its problems on the closed McNeil Consumer Healthcare facility in Fort Washington, reported a 6.3 percent drop in profits for the third quarter compared with the same period in 2010. Company officials said in a news release and a conference call with Wall Street analysts that domestic sales and revenue were again hurt in part by the extra costs and lack of income from over-the-counter medicines that had been produced at the plant in Fort Washington.

Johnson & Johnson said yesterday that it was considering alternatives to its $25.4 billion offer for heart-device-maker Guidant Corp., which is facing product recalls and a possible federal inquiry. The acknowledgment, long awaited by Wall Street analysts, whacked Indianapolis-based Guidant's stock by 11 percent while leaving shares of Johnson & Johnson, based in New Brunswick, N.J., almost unchanged. The Guidant acquisition would be among the biggest for Johnson & Johnson, whose expansive merger strategy has made it a player in most health-care markets.

Johnson & Johnson said yesterday that it has begun construction of a $181 million building at its Spring House complex that will add 120 jobs and become the East Coast "hub" for its early-stage drug-discovery research and development. The 150,000-square-foot building will add laboratories, clinical development and office space. It is scheduled to be completed in 2009. Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development L.L.C. now employs 680 in Spring House, where the company said prescription medicines, including Topamax, Ultram and Ultracet, were developed.

An Arkansas judge fined Johnson & Johnson more than $1.1 billion Wednesday because the health-care giant's Janssen subsidiary marketed the antipsychotic drug Risperdal in misleading ways through that state's Medicaid system. The award, if upheld on appeal, could reverberate through the many courts in which J&J is fighting lawsuits about the drug, which was approved only for schizophrenia and bipolar mania but was prescribed for other ailments. "This is the third one in a row that they've lost, and when you see a pattern like this, sometimes discretion is the better part of valor when you're trying to decide about settling," said University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias, who specializes in product liability.

Health-care giant Johnson & Johnson said Tuesday that it plans to sell the trauma segment of its medical-device division for $280 million to Biomet Inc. in hopes of satisfying European Union antitrust concerns about J&J's acquisition of device-maker Synthes Inc. J&J is planning to integrate Synthes and the other pieces of DePuy Orthopaedics. "DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. has received a binding offer from Biomet, a leading, diversified orthopedic company, by which Biomet will acquire the DePuy Orthopaedics' worldwide trauma business," J&J spokesman Bill Price said by e-mail.

Alex Gorsky got a promotion Tuesday, but the challenge confronting the next chief executive officer of Johnson & Johnson is visible in some of the other jobs that still need filling at the global health-care company's facility in Fort Washington, home to some of its most iconic brands. Manufacturing Supervisor . Consent Decree Management Office Facilitator, Product Development & Validation . Director of Marketing - US OTC Pain . Gorsky lives in Bucks County, like outgoing CEO Bill Weldon, and commutes across the Delaware to the J&J headquarters in New Brunswick.

Johnson & Johnson chief executive officer Bill Weldon, 63, will retire in April, after a string of product recalls that have embarrassed the health-care giant in recent years. Alex Gorsky, 51, one of two vice chairmen, will succeed Weldon at the company's annual meeting. Gorsky edged out fellow vice chair Sheri McCoy for the top spot with the company, which had $65 billion in sales with such names as Band-Aids and Tylenol, along with medical devices and pharmaceuticals. The last big acquisition on Weldon's watch - and one of the biggest in health care in 2011 - was the as-yet-unfinalized $21.3 billion takeover of the medical-device manufacturer Synthes Inc., which has operations in Chester County.

The McNeil Consumer Healthcare plant in Fort Washington, Montgomery County, will not resume production until at least 2013, Johnson & Johnson's chief executive officer, Bill Weldon, said Tuesday as the company reported 2011 full-year and fourth-quarter financial results. Recalls, repairs, litigation, and costs related to the acquisition of Synthes Inc. played a big part in J&J's profit dropping 88.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 compared with the same period a year earlier.

The United States spends about $2.6 trillion per year on health care, or about 17.4 percent of our gross domestic product - more than most developed nations without correspondingly good results. The Justice Department has increased prosecution of health-care fraud, which can physically harm patients and fiscally injure taxpayers, against individuals or multinational companies. Philadelphia is a center for that fight because there are many health-care companies in the area.

Johnson & Johnson will pay more than $1 billion to the United States and most states to resolve a civil investigation into marketing of the antipsychotic Risperdal, according to people familiar with the matter. J&J, the world's largest health-products company, reached an accord last week with the U.S. attorney in Philadelphia, according to the sources, who were not authorized to speak about the matter. It doesn't resolve negotiations over a possible criminal plea, they said. The U.S. government has been investigating Risperdal sales practices since 2004, including allegations that the company marketed the drug for unapproved uses, J&J has said in Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

The little boy was 2 years old, and his name was River. On the night of July 22, 2010, he had a fever. Mothers and fathers worry about little boys with fevers, so Katy Moore gave her son Very Berry Strawberry Children's Tylenol. Within 30 minutes, he was spitting up blood. By the next day, he was dead from liver failure. In a lawsuit filed in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, Daniel and Katy Moore of Ellensburg, Wash., southeast of Seattle, blame Tylenol's manufacturer, Johnson & Johnson Inc., and its McNeil Consumer Healthcare subsidiary, which has a plant and headquarters in Fort Washington, Montgomery County.

Patients and profits are often on opposite sides of the cost equation for pharmaceutical companies. That was evident this week, when Johnson & Johnson decided not to help an international nonprofit organization that tries to help provide AIDS drugs in poor nations at cheaper prices by making patent-protected drug formulas available to lower-cost manufacturers. J&J said three drugs, including one whose research was partially funded by U.S. taxpayers, would not be released to the Medicines Patent Pool.

Synthes Inc. shareholders, meeting at the company's headquarters in Solothurn, Switzerland, voted to approve the proposal by Johnson & Johnson to take over Synthes for $21.3 billion in cash and stock. Synthes has facilities and a U.S. headquarters in Chester County. The companies hope to close the deal in the first half of 2012. "The shareholders approved the proposal to adopt the agreement and plan of merger as outlined in the invitation," Synthes said in a statement. The European Union is reviewing the deal to examine the antitrust effects on the market for screws, plates and other devices to fix bones broken through trauma or wear and tear.