Utah joins 44 states in suit against generic drug makers

Utah has joined 44 other states in suing Teva Pharmaceuticals and 19 of the nation’s largest generic drug manufacturers, alleging a broad conspiracy to artificially inflate and manipulate prices as well as reduce competition for more than 100 generic drugs.

“The price-fixing case against these pharmaceutical companies has been building for years, and it’s time we hold them accountable for manipulating the market,” Utah Attorney General Reyes said in announcing the state’s action.{mprestriction ids="1,3"} “It’s outrageous that these companies colluded to inflate prices on generic drugs that should be affordable and increase quality of life for many people, like antibiotics and asthma medication.”

The complaint alleges that Teva, Sandoz, Mylan, Pfizer and 16 other generic drug manufacturers engaged in a broad, coordinated and systematic campaign to conspire with one another to fix prices, allocate markets and rig bids for more than 100 different generic drugs.

The lawsuit lays out an interconnected web of industry executives meeting with one another to unlawfully discourage competition and includes emails, text messages, telephone records and former company insiders reflecting a multi-year conspiracy to fix prices and divide the market share for huge numbers of generic drugs. In some instances, the coordinated price increases were over 1,000 percent, Reyes said.

The drugs span all types, including tablets, capsules, suspensions, creams, gels, ointments, and all classes, including statins, ace inhibitors, beta blockers, antibiotics, anti-depressants, contraceptives and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. These drugs are used to treat a range of diseases and conditions from basic infections to diabetes, cancer, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, HIV, ADHD and more.{/mprestriction}