What You Should Know About Generic Drug Antitrust Cases

Generic drug antitrust cases are becoming more and more common, with massive implications stemming from rulings in recent years.

The idea of an antitrust lawsuit is essentially to prevent monopolistic business practices that drive up prices by suing businesses that have acted or plan to act in violation of antitrust laws that limit economic power.

We’ll go over some of the most recent developments in generic drug antitrust cases and especially their effects on cities and municipalities. If you would like to learn more about antitrust cases or how they might affect you, please reach out to Napoli Shkolnik!

What Are Generic Drug Antitrust Cases?

In 2014, the Department of Justice began an investigation into the pricing of various generic pharmaceuticals.

While the investigation is still ongoing, it has already resulted in several antitrust rulings against generic drug companies. These cases allege that the companies engaged in price fixing and other anti-competitive practices.

Two of the specific drugs involved in these cases are doxycycline, an antibiotic, and glyburide, a treatment for diabetes.

Major pharmaceutical companies including Teva, Mylan, Heritage Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Reddy’s, and Allergan have been investigated, and in 2017, Heritage Pharmaceuticals pled guilty for fixing prices for doxycycline and glyburide.

These generic drug antitrust cases have involved illegal practices such as price-fixing, agreements to divide markets, agreements to maintain minimum pricing, and other unlawful antitrust conspiracies.

The DOJ has alleged that these companies engaged in anticompetitive practices in order to keep prices high and prevent competition.

How Do Generic Drug Antitrust Cases Affect Cities and Municipalities?

The effects of these generic drug antitrust cases are far-reaching.

Many, if not the majority of cities, counties, and municipalities “self-insure,” which means they cover the costs of medical care and pharmaceuticals for their employees and dependents. Simply put, these local government agencies finance or reimburse the expenses of medical treatment, including prescription medicines.

The investigation brought against pharmaceutical companies that manufacture generic drugs shows that costs may have been extremely inflated for these generic drugs.

Cities, counties, and municipalities may have lost millions of dollars or more due to the inflated prices of these drugs.

In the wake of the Federal investigation, the state attorneys’ generals of 47 states have brought a civil action alleging price fixing, market division, and other antitrust violations by 16 defendant pharmaceutical companies related to fifteen (15) generic prescription drugs.

Private insurers and other healthcare providers are determined to recoup some of the money spent due to illegally fixed prices.

Local governments are another group that may want to consider bringing antitrust actions against the guilty pharmaceutical companies.

Municipalities can pursue legal action in a manner similar to that employed by states, which would allow them to recoup millions or billions of dollars that they have over-expended on prescription drugs.

Contact Professionals at Napoli Shkolnik

Federal and state antitrust laws seek to protect consumers from the sort of concentrated economic power among businesses in a given industry that, when too concentrated, results in higher industry prices and decreased consumer choice. In the situation of these generic drug antitrust cases, serious antitrust laws have been broken.

As a result, individuals, as well as cities, counties, and municipalities, can receive compensation.

If your municipality has been affected by these generic drug antitrust cases, we encourage you to reach out to us at Napoli Shkolnik. Our experienced attorneys can help you understand your legal options and fight for the compensation you deserve.