Ritonavir, sold under the brand name Norvir, is an antiretroviral medication used along with other medications to treat HIV/AIDS. This combination treatment is known as highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Ritonavir is a protease inhibitor and is used with other protease inhibitors. It may also be used in combination with other medications to treat hepatitis C. It is taken by mouth. Tablets of ritonavir are not bioequivalent to capsules, as the tablets may result in higher peak plasma concentrations.Common side effects include nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, diarrhea, and numbness of the hands and feet. Serious side effects include liver problems, pancreatitis, allergic reactions, and arrythmias. Serious interactions may occur with a number of other medications including amiodarone and simvastatin. At low doses it is considered to be acceptable for use during pregnancy. Ritonavir is of the protease inhibitor class. Typically, however, it is used to inhibit the enzyme that metabolizes other protease inhibitors. This inhibition allows lower doses of these latter medications to be used.Ritonavir was patented in 1989 and came into medical use in 1996. It is on the World Health Organizations List of Essential Medicines. Ritonavir capsules were approved as a generic medication in the United States in 2020. Medical uses
Ritonavir is indicated in combination with other antiretroviral agents for the treatment of HIV-1-infected patients.In December 2021, the combination of nirmatrelvir and ritonavir was granted emergency use authorization by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of coronavirus disease COVID-19.
The verdict was later reversed by the Arkansas state supreme court.In August 2012, Johnson & Johnson agreed to pay $181 million to 36 U.S. states in order to settle claims that it had promoted risperidone and paliperidone for off-label uses including for dementia, anger management, and anxiety.In November 2013, J&J was fined $2.2 billion for illegally marketing risperidone for use in people with dementia.In 2015, Steven Brill posted a 15-part investigative journalism piece on J&J in The Huffington Post, called "Americas most admired lawbreaker", which was focused on J&Js marketing of risperidone.J&J has faced numerous civil lawsuits on behalf of children who were prescribed risperidone who grew breasts (a condition called gynecomastia); as of July 2016 there were about 1,500 cases in Pennsylvania state court in Philadelphia, and there had been a February 2015 verdict against J&J with $2.5 million awarded to a man from Alabama, a $1.75 million verdict against J&J that November, and in 2016 a $70 million verdict against J&J. In October 2019, a jury awarded a Pennsylvania man $8 billion in a verdict against J&J. Names
Brand names include Risperdal, Risperdal Consta, Risperdal M-Tab, Risperdal Quicklets, Risperlet, Okedi, and Perseris. References
Further reading
Dean L (2017). "Risperidone Therapy and CYP2D6 Genotype". In Pratt VM, McLeod HL, Rubinstein WS,  et al. (eds.). Medical Genetics Summaries. National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). PMID 28520384. Bookshelf ID: NBK425795. External links

"Risperidone". Drug Information Portal. U.S. National Library of Medicine.