Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark announced on Feb. 2 that two pharmaceutical companies, Lannett Company, Inc. and Bausch Health US, LLC along with Bausch Health Americas, Inc., have agreed to pay a total of $17.85 million to settle allegations of conspiring to inflate prices and limit competition for generic prescription drugs.
The settlements are part of ongoing efforts by a coalition of 48 states and territories to address what they describe as widespread conspiracies in the generic drug industry that harm consumers by raising costs and reducing market competition.
According to the announcement, both Lannett and Bausch have agreed not only to pay the settlement amounts but also to cooperate in further multistate litigation against other corporate defendants and individual executives. The companies will implement internal reforms aimed at ensuring compliance with antitrust laws. These agreements follow earlier settlements totaling $49.1 million with Apotex and Heritage Pharmaceuticals.
The Connecticut Attorney General’s Office is leading these cases, which began in 2016 under then-Attorney General George Jepsen. The first complaint involved Heritage Pharmaceuticals and several other companies regarding alleged price-fixing for multiple generic drugs. Subsequent complaints expanded the scope to include additional manufacturers such as Teva Pharmaceuticals, as well as numerous senior executives across the industry. The third complaint focuses on topical generic drugs representing billions in U.S. sales.
Evidence supporting these cases includes testimony from cooperating witnesses within the industry, a database containing over 20 million documents, phone records involving more than 600 individuals tied to sales and pricing decisions, and detailed notes from company insiders documenting communications among competitors.
Clark was joined by attorneys general from nearly every state and territory in both the settlements with Lannett and Bausch as well as a new complaint filed against Novartis and Sandoz. Consumers who purchased certain generic prescription drugs made by Lannett or Bausch between May 2009 and December 2019 may be eligible for compensation; details are available at www.AGGenericDrugs.com or by calling 1-866-290-0182.
