Greedy Trial Lawyer
Drug Companies Pay Competition To Stay Out Of Market
Category: Gaming The System
Should Burger King be able to pay Wendy's to stop selling hamburgers for a couple of years? Or, Ford be permitted to compensate GMC for not selling pickup trucks until 2010? If your answer is no, why are the big drug companies legally able to pay generic drug companies huge sums to delay marketing the cheaper versions of brand name drugs?
Big Pharma and the "pay for delay" scam
The Federal Trade Commission says court-approved deals between drug manufacturers and companies that make cheaper generics are costing consumers billions of dollars.A report by the agency coincides with congressional hearings and shows the settlements are becoming more common.
In a tactic upheld by appeals courts, brand-name drug companies pay off generic competitors, which then agree to delay introduction of less-costly non-brand-name versions.
Consumers Union says in a typical settlement, the generic drug company makes more money than it would from selling its cheaper version of the drug.
FTC Commissioner John Leibowitz decries what he calls "pernicious pay-for-delay settlements."
From AP and Pharmagossip
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