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# Supreme Court Rejects Lawyers’ Risperdal Appeal
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/supreme-court-rejects-lawyers-risperdal-appeal/
- Published: 2017-05-18T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T22:24:33.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: Drugs, #legacy-id-D5138723

The Supreme Court has refused to hear the appeal of a Philadelphia law firm that wanted FDA to either withdraw its approval for use of Janssen’s Risperdal (risperidone) in children or require a Boxed Warning about the potential for side effects including gynecomastia. FDA rejected the petition from Sheller P.C., which then filed suit in a Pennsylvania federal court. When that court held that the firm lacked legal standing to challenge the agency, Sheller appealed to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld the lower court ruling. The Supreme Court’s decision allows the appeals court decision to remain in place.

A Bloomberg *Life Sciences Law & Industry Report* story says that generally third parties without a direct, personal stake in the matter being considered can’t sue the government, although courts have allowed third parties to sue in certain circumstances, such as when the third party is a guardian for a child in a lawsuit.

The Sheller firm has filed several product liability suits on behalf of children who took branded and generic risperidone and the related drug paliperidone and had adverse experiences. Firm founding partner **Stephen Sheller** criticized the high court’s decision as “a sad commentary. We don’t have standing to protect these children and there are thousands of them. The law needs to change.”