JanssenHere are some notes about Risperdal, the drug prescribed to my mom by Dr. Mossler — a psychiatrist who saw my mom only one time — exactly one week ago, which I declined, and which — when I learned they were ignoring me and administering to her anyway — I begged and pleaded with them to stop giving her less than twenty-four hours before she died.

Risperdal is a product of Janssen 5, a pharmaceutical company owned by Johnson & Johnson.

Studies have shown that older adults with dementia … who take antipsychotics (medications for mental illness) such as risperidone have an increased risk of death during treatment. 1
Risperidone is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of behavior problems in older adults with dementia. Talk to the doctor who prescribed this medication if you, a family member, or someone you care for has dementia and is taking risperidone. 1 2
Atypical antipsychotics like Risperdal are definitely associated with sudden cardiac death. 3
“In the absence of clearly established benefits for many of these patients, the risk of a fatal side effect is not likely to be acceptable. For these patients, the use of antipsychotic medications should be reduced sharply […]” 4
The benefits of Risperdal in children, the elderly, or people taking it for off-label reasons (i.e. something other than schizophrenia or bipolar mania) have not been established; therefore, the unproven benefit is not worth the proven risk. 3

See also: Atypical Antipsychotic Drugs and the Risk of Sudden Cardiac Death

1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0000944/
2 Note that I made multiple attempts to contact Dr. Mossler and Dr. Peele as soon as I learned that my mother had again been prescribed this medication. (Those attempts are clearly documented on this website and can be validated by phone records.)
3 http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jorilind/risperfacts/ArtCardiacDeath.html The entire website previously located on the University of Michigan servers has since disappeared.
4 from Antipsychotic Agents and Sudden Cardiac Death — http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe0809417; download PDF
5 http://www.janssenmedicalinformation.com/