Johnson & Johnson was ordered to pay more than $1.1 billion (€839 million) by a judge after an Arkansas jury found the company’s officials misled doctors and patients about the risks of anti-psychotic drug Risperdal.

The court found J&J and its Janssen unit committed more than 238,000 violations of the state’s Medicaid fraud laws by illegally marketing Risperdal over an almost four-year period starting in 2002. The judge found each violation carried a $5,000 fine, pushing the total to more than $1.1 billion.

The penalty is the largest of the three handed down so far against J&J in state cases alleging the second-biggest maker of health products hid Risperdal’s risks and tricked Medicaid regulators into paying more than they should have for the medicine.

“I think this ups the ante quite a bit on the other states’ cases targeting J&J’s Risperdal marketing,” said Carl Tobias, who teaches product liability law at the University of Richmond. “I think the judge was sending a message – either settle these cases or litigate them at your peril.”

A state jury concluded on Tuesday that J&J’s Risperdal marketing violated both Medicare fraud laws and Arkansas’ deceptive trade practices statutes.

Judge Tim Fox ordered the drugmaker to pay $11.4 million in penalties on the trade practices violations.

“We are disappointed with the judge’s decision on penalties,” said Teresa Mueller, a spokeswoman for Janssen. “If our motion for a new trial is denied, we will appeal.”

Risperdal’s global sales peaked at $4.5 billion in 2007 and declined after the company lost patent protection. – (Bloomberg)