While much of the attention on the alleged Risperdal gynecomastia link has focused on younger men, a new study has found a similar risk for older men taking the drug.

Risperdal is an atypical antipsychotic, a drug designed to reduce the symptoms of schizophrenia without the side effects seen in older-generation antipsychotics like Thorazine. However, a number of Risperdal lawsuits allege that Risperdal side effects are still a major concern.

Among the bulk of the Risperdal lawsuits, the chief allegation is that patients were not informed that Risperdal could cause gynecomastia, also known as male breast growth or “man boobs.”

Various Risperdal gynecomastia studies have suggested that the drug can increase the level of prolactin in males taking the drug. Prolactin is a hormone responsible for the development of female secondary sexual characteristics. It is alleged that this can cause male breast growth.

Risperdal man boobs lawsuits have alleged that Risperdal patients have needed reconstructive surgery to recover from this Risperdal side effect, in addition to suffering embarrassment and psychological anguish. And a new study suggests this may effect a wider variety of Risperdal patients.

This latest Risperdal study was published in the August issue of The Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology. The study was designed as a nested case-control study, which looked at a group of men between 40 and 85. In this study, a group of 8,285 men with gynecomastia were compared to a group of 82,850 men without gynecomastia. It was found that gynecomastia and Risperdal had a statistically significant correlation, specifically that if a patient was taking Risperdal, his risk of developing gynecomastia increased by 69 percent.

At present, the makers of Risperdal are facing numerous Risperdal lawsuits, which are being coordinated into a type of legal action called a multidistrict litigation (MDL) or mass tort. MDLs are a coordinated group of similar lawsuits, similar in some ways to a class action lawsuit.

In both class action lawsuits and MDLs, a number of plaintiffs allege that they have all suffered similar harm at the hands of the same defendant. The main difference is that class action lawsuits are coordinated as group lawsuits from the beginning, while MDLs start out as individual suits which are later coordinated into a single MDL.

The Risperdal Gynecomastia MDL is In re: Risperdal Litigation, Case No. 100300296, in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.