Drug giant Johnson & Johnson has reported that the company has suffered from a fall of 89 percent in its net profits because of a series of drug recalls and various fees incurred because of lawsuits being filed.

J&J has had to payout $2.86 billion over the past year, which caused the company’s net earnings to be down to $218 million. This is huge considering that the company had a net profit of $1.94 billion in 2010. To explain how this plummet occurred, it began with recalls of some of its over-the-counter medications like Tylenol, Sudafed and Rolaids. Later on in 2011, J&J also experienced recalls in other popular drugs like Risperdal and the epilepsy drug Topamax.

Topamax has caused many lawsuits to be filed against J&J after consumer adverse side effects reports and studies showed that Topamax was linked to birth defects in babies whose mothers took the drug while pregnant. Some of the birth defects linked to Topamax include PPHN, oral clefts, cleft palate, spina bifida and other neural tube defects. The popular drug is also commonly used to treat migraines. However, with one of the drug’s side effects being weight loss, the addition of metoclopramide (Topamax) in the weight loss drug Qnexa has caused that drug to be linked to birth defects as well.

William C. Weldon, chair and CEO, is looking on the bright side of all of this and is hoping that new drugs coming to the market will help to increase the company’s net profits in the future.

“We delivered solid results for 2011, built on the strong growth of our recently-launched pharmaceutical products and continued the steady momentum of new product approvals across all our businesses,” Weldon notes.

If your baby was born with birth defects as a result of the mother taking Topamax while pregnant, contact Greg Jones today for a free consultation. I am experienced at fighting Topamax lawsuits and may be able to help you recover money for your baby’s injuries.