Generic Drug Price Fixing Lawsuit

Multiple lawsuits have been filed against generic drug manufacturers, alleging that these companies colluded to substantially increase the price of generic drugs.

The lawsuits allege a broad conspiracy among generic drug manufacturers to reduce competition and fix prices for several generic drugs. As a result, prices for certain drugs have surged as much as 8,000% since 2013.

Class action lawsuits, coordinated in Pennsylvania federal court by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, allege that numerous companies colluded to raise the prices of at least eighteen generic drugs.

The US Department of Justice has an ongoing wide-ranging criminal investigation into the price fixing allegations and has issued subpoenas to several generic drug manufacturers.

The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) has convened a grand jury in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to investigate collusion in the industry. This grand jury has issued subpoenas and other requests for information to various generic pharmaceutical manufacturers, including defendants Heritage, Mylan, Sun, Par, Impax, Mayne, Actavis, and Lannett. On December 12 and December 13, 2016, the DOJ filed the first criminal charges stemming from its ongoing investigation.

Investigations into the generic drug industry have shown that manufacturers operate in a way that creates and even encourages routine, direct interactions among competitors. Allegedly during these interactions, representatives of the manufacturers plan and agree to anticompetitive arrangements regarding the price and distribution of generic drugs.

The impact of these illegal agreements is widespread. Sky-high prices for critical generic drugs has caused a harmful and lasting effect on the US healthcare system, forcing consumers and healthcare providers to pay more for drugs that are essential in the treatment of certain illnesses and conditions.

The manufacturers point to other factors, such as plant closures and industry consolidation, as the reason for the price increases, but Plaintiffs allege that none of these explanations justify such a dramatic and widespread rise in drug prices.

Generic drugs are an important part of our healthcare system. They are the pharmaceutical equivalents to brand name drugs, and typically cost much less than brand name drugs, and can save tens of billions of dollars annually for consumers and the healthcare system.

For decades, the generic drug market has been characterized by healthy competition among manufacturers, which in turn leads to lower prices for consumers. As more generic manufacturers enter the market for a particular drug, prices are pushed lower, usually settling at around 20% of the brand drug price.

Since the early part of this decade, however, the prices of some generic drugs have risen alarmingly. For some drugs prices have skyrocketed. The prices of many generic drugs have increased by 1,000% or more, sparking public outrage and Congressional investigations into a tight-knit industry.

The lawsuits name multiple generic drug manufacturers as parties that engaged in, and in some cases spearheaded, the illegal agreements:

• Mylan Pharmaceuticals
• Teva Pharmaceuticals
• Actavis
• Heritage Pharmaceuticals
• Impax Laboratories
• West-Ward Pharmaceuticals
• Par Pharmaceuticals
• Aurobindo Pharma
• Mayne Pharma
• Lannett
• Sun Pharma
• Upsher Smith Laboratories
• Mutual Pharmaceuticals
• Sandoz
• Perrigo
• Fougera Pharmaceuticals
• Taro Pharmaceuticals
• Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories
• Zydus Pharmaceuticals

Other drugs are under investigation, and include: Acetazolamide; Fosinopril-Hydrochlorothiazide; Glipizide-Metformin; Glyburide-Metformin; Leflunomide; Meprobamate; Nimodipine; Nystatin; Paromomycin; Theophylline (Extended Release); Verapamil; and Zoledronic Acid.

Our firm is helping to lead the investigation into the anticompetitive and harmful conduct of the generic drug industry. We will be updating our website with the latest news on these lawsuits as new information becomes available.