FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Consumers Could Be Eligible for Compensation if They Purchased Certain Generic Prescription Drugs in the United States Between May 1, 2009, and December 31, 2019
BALTIMORE, MD – Attorney General Anthony G. Brown joined a coalition of 48 states and territories announcing two additional settlements with Lannett Company, Inc. (Lannett) and Bausch Health US, LLC and Bausch Health Americas, Inc. (Bausch), totaling $17.85 million to resolve allegations that both companies 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 their settlement agreements, both companies have agreed to cooperate in the ongoing multistate litigations. Both companies have further agreed to a series of internal reforms to ensure fair competition and compliance with antitrust laws. The Lannett and Bausch settlements follow prior settlements with Apotex and Heritage, which totaled $49.1 million
These settlements come as the states prepare for the first trial to be held in Hartford, Connecticut and anticipated to be scheduled in late 2026.
If consumers purchased one or more generic prescription drugs manufactured by either Lannett or Bausch between May 2009 and December 2019, they may be eligible for compensation. To determine eligibility, consumers should call 1-866-290-0182 (toll-free), email [email protected] or visit www.AGGenericDrugs.com
Also, 42 states and territories, including Maryland, filed a new lawsuit against Novartis and its generic companies Sandoz AG and Sandoz Group AG alleging a systemic campaign to conspire with other generic manufacturers to fix prices, allocate markets and rig bids for 31 different generic drugs. The complaint further alleges that Novartis took steps to fraudulently transfer and drain assets from Sandoz and spin off Sandoz to shield Novartis from liability.
Connecticut’s Attorney General Office is leading a coalition of nearly all states and territories in three antitrust cases. The first complaint included Heritage Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and 17 other corporate defendants, two individual defendants, and 15 generic drugs.
“Each of these companies conspired to rig the market and inflate drug prices – and Marylanders paid the price,” said Attorney General Brown. “These actions show that we will aggressively pursue any pharmaceutical company that puts profit over patients and rigs the system against consumers.
Two former executives from Heritage, Jeffery Glazer, and Jason Malek, have since entered into settlement agreements and are cooperating with the states. The second complaint was filed in 2019 against Teva Pharmaceuticals and 19 of the nation’s largest generic drug manufacturers. That complaint names 16 individual senior executive defendants. The third complaint, to be tried first, focuses on 80 topical generic drugs that account for billions of dollars of sales in the United States and names 26 corporate defendants and 10 individual defendants. Seven additional pharmaceutical executives have entered into settlement agreements with the states and have been cooperating to support the states’ claims in all three cases.
The cases all stem from a series of investigations built on evidence from several cooperating witnesses at the core of the different interconnected conspiracies, a massive document database of over 20 million documents, and a phone records database containing millions of call detail records and contact information for over 600 sales and pricing individuals in the generics industry. Each complaint addresses a different set of drugs and defendants, and lays out an interrelated web of industry executives where these competitors met with each other during industry dinners, “girls’ nights out,” lunches, cocktail parties, and golf outings and communicated via frequent telephone calls, emails and text messages that sowed the seeds for their illegal agreements. Throughout the complaints, defendants use terms like “fair share,” “playing nice in the sandbox,” and “responsible competitor” to describe how they unlawfully discouraged competition, raised prices, and enforced an ingrained culture of collusion.
States and territories settling today with Lannett and Bausch include: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, 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.
States and territories filing the new complaint against Novartis, Sandoz AG, and Sandoz Group AG include: Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia, Washington, West Viginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
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