Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown announced a $39.1 million multistate settlement with generic drug manufacturer Apotex over allegations of price-fixing and limiting competition, with affected consumers eligible for compensation. The settlement is part of ongoing antitrust litigation against multiple pharmaceutical companies accused of conspiring to inflate drug prices, with Maryland joining nearly all U.S. states and territories in the legal action.
Per the news release distributed Wednesday, March 26: “Attorney General Anthony G. Brown is urging consumers to check their eligibility for compensation for certain generic drug purchases as Maryland joins 50 states and territories in seeking preliminary approval for a $39.1 million settlement with generic drug manufacturer Apotex over conspiracy to inflate prices and limit competition.
Attorney General Brown and the multistate coalition previously announced the settlement in principle with Apotex last fall along with a $10 million settlement with Heritage Pharmaceuticals. At the time of that announcement, the settlement with Apotex was conditioned on the signatures of all necessary states and territories. Those signatures have been obtained, and the coalition is filing the settlement today in U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.
“Today’s settlement is a hard-won victory for Marylanders who have been forced to pay inflated prices for essential medications for far too long,” said Attorney General Brown. “We are committed to holding companies like Apotex accountable for their unlawful business practices and ensuring Maryland consumers receive the reimbursement they deserve for the harm caused by this price-fixing conspiracy.”
If you purchased a generic prescription drug listed here between May 2009 and December 2019, you may be eligible for compensation. To determine your eligibility, call 1-866-290-0182 (Toll-Free), email [email protected], or visit www.AGGenericDrugs.com.
The settlement agreements resolve allegations that both Apotex and Heritage engaged in widespread, long-running conspiracies to artificially inflate and manipulate prices, reduce competition, and unreasonably restrain trade with regard to numerous generic prescription drugs. As part of the settlement agreements, both Apotex and Heritage have agreed to cooperate in the ongoing multistate litigations against 30 corporate defendants and 25 individual executives. Both companies have further agreed to a series of internal reforms to ensure fair competition and compliance with antitrust laws.
Maryland is among a coalition of nearly all states and territories filing three antitrust complaints, starting first in 2016. The first complaint included Heritage and 17 other corporate defendants, two individual defendants, and 15 generic drugs. Two former executives from Heritage Pharmaceuticals, Jeffery Glazer and Jason Malek, have since entered into settlement agreements and are cooperating.
The second complaint was filed in 2019 against Teva Pharmaceuticals and 19 of the nation’s largest generic drug manufacturers, naming 16 individual senior executive defendants. The third complaint, to be tried first, focuses on 80 topical generic drugs that account for billions of dollars in U.S. sales and names 26 corporate defendants and 10 individual defendants. Six additional pharmaceutical executives have entered into settlement agreements with the states and are cooperating in all three cases.
These cases stem from investigations built on evidence from cooperating witnesses, a database of over 20 million documents, and phone records containing millions of call details and contact information for over 600 sales and pricing individuals in the generics industry. The complaints describe a network of industry executives who met at industry dinners, social gatherings, and communicated via calls, emails, and texts to establish illegal agreements. Defendants used phrases like “fair share,” “playing nice in the sandbox,” and “responsible competitor” to describe how they discouraged competition, raised prices, and maintained a culture of collusion.
A two-volume notebook containing contemporaneous notes from a cooperating witness documented discussions during phone calls and internal company meetings over several years.
The states and territories joining the settlement include Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, U.S. Virgin Islands, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and Puerto Rico.”