HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Six generic drugmakers artificially inflated and manipulated prices to reduce competition for an antibiotic and oral diabetes medication, 20 state attorneys general, led by Connecticut, said in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Six generic drugmakers artificially inflated and manipulated prices to reduce competition for an antibiotic and oral diabetes medication, 20 state attorneys general, led by Connecticut, said in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday.
Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen, whose office began its investigation more than two years ago into suspicious price increases of certain generic medications, said his staff “developed compelling evidence of collusion and anticompetitive conduct” among many companies that manufacture and market generic drugs.
The other plaintiff states include Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington.
Jepsen called Heritage Pharmaceuticals “the principal architect of the conspiracies,” but said he had evidence of “widespread participation in illegal conspiracies across the generic drug industry.”
Federal authorities Wednesday charged two former executives from Heritage, an Eatontown, N.J.-based company, with fixing prices of generic drugs on an antibiotic and a diabetes medication between April 2013 and December 2015. Heritage said in a statement that it terminated those executives in August, filed its own civil complaint against the pair and is fully cooperating with the Department of Justice.
Besides Heritage, the other drug companies targeted in the lawsuit include Aurobindo Pharma USA Inc.; Citron Pharma LLC; Mayne Pharma Inc.; Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc.; and Teva Pharmaceuticals USA.
Both Mylan and Teva said they knew of no evidence that they had participated in price fixing. Teva said it “vigorously” denies any allegations of wrongdoing. Aurobindo declined to comment. The other companies didn’t immediately return requests for comment.
“Ultimately, it was consumers — and, indeed, our health care system as a whole — who paid for these actions through artificially high prices for generic drugs,” Jepsen said.
“Hawaii citizens depend upon generic drugs and expect them to be cheaper than name brands,” said Hawaii Attorney General Doug Chin. “This multi-state lawsuit alleges a conspiracy among generic drug companies at the senior executive level to manipulate prices for profit. This type of corporate greed must stop.”
Last year, generic drug sales in the U.S. were estimated at $74.5 billion; currently, the generic pharmaceutical industry accounts for approximately 88 percent of all prescriptions written in the United States.
According to the complaint, which was filed Thursday in federal court in Connecticut, the defendants allegedly coordinated with their competitors at industry trade shows, customer conferences and other events, as well as through direct email, phone and text message communications. The 20 states also allege the drug companies knew their conduct was illegal and avoided communicating with one another in writing.