Is there a conspiracy among the pharmaceutical companies to fix the price of drugs? This is exactly what Blue Cross and Blue Shield and HMO of Louisiana are alleging. Under the name Louisiana Health Service Indemnity Company, Blue Cross and HMO Louisiana filed the suits in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The insurance companies claim that more than a dozen pharmaceutical companies conspired with competitors to fix the price of generic drugs.
The lawsuits by BCBL and HMO of Louisiana were filed after the 2 pharmaceutical executives in New York pleaded guilty to criminal price-fixing. BCBL says that this confirms that there are conspiracies to fix the prices of drugs. Federal and state agencies have also just completed a 2-year probe to determine if there has been price-fixing and bid-rigging by generic drug companies.
BCBL and HMO Louisiana have filed a total of twelve lawsuits in the past few days. The first five lawsuits were filed on Tuesday April 25, 2017. These allege that executives conspired to manipulate prices for generic Lidocaine, Prilocaine, Ursodiol, Clobetasol, Levothyroxine, Doxycycline and Digoxin. Seven additional lawsuits were filed on Wednesday April 26, 2017. These lawsuits concern the generic drugs of Glyburide, Clomipramine, Fluocinonide, Propranolol, Prevastatin, Divalproex ER, and Desonide.
BCBS says it paid and incurred costs for the prescriptions of each of the above-mentioned generic drugs. They claim there have been unexplained price hikes for the drugs in the past few years that were controlled by the pharmaceutical companies conspiring together. BCBL and HMO Louisiana are seeking class action status for the lawsuits and have requested jury trials.
Sources: