Big Pharma Companies Face Class Action Over Essential Drug Price Fixing

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A class of independent pharmacies has filed an antitrust class action against several pharmaceutical companies over a price-fixing conspiracy in which the defendants allegedly colluded to illegally increase the price of two “essential” prescription drugs, generic digoxin and doxycycline. According to the 95-page complaint, the companies raised the prices of digoxin and doxycycline by more than 880 percent and 8,200 percent, respectively, which forced many class members to absorb some or all of the sharp price increases directly for a long period of time because they had acquired the drugs indirectly for resale.

Digoxin, a blood pressure and antiarrhymthmic medication, and doxycycline, an antibiotic, have been around for years and are both available in relatively inexpensive generic forms. The lawsuit claims the defendants “accomplished their price-fixing and market and customer allocation conspiracy through, among other things, public statements, meetings, and the exchange of information regarding pricing, costs, manufacturing, and supply issues.”