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LITIGATION
Twenty-nine U.S. states have sued Bristol-Myers Squibb, alleging that the drug company illegally blocked generic versions of the anticancer drug paclitaxel. They say the company "knowingly manipulated the patent processes to secure fraudulent patents ... that prevented other drug manufacturers from developing generic alternatives." The states' attorneys general want unspecified monetary damages. They say Bristol-Myers wrongfully profited from its Taxol brand-name drug monopoly and deprived consumers of less expensive versions. Generic paclitaxel reached the market in 2000, the same year annual Taxol sales peaked at $1.6 billion. "These marketplace practices have had a dramatic impact on the ability of people and health care systems to obtain affordable, effective drugs," says Ohio Attorney General Betty D. Montgomery. "It's unconscionable that these practices seem to place profit above patients." Bristol-Myers says the "actual events at issue are several years old and have been the subject of litigation for some time." It doesn't envision dealing any differently with the issues in this new lawsuit. The lawsuit is only the latest to target drug producers. In late 2001, 30 states together filed an antitrust lawsuit against Bristol-Myers over the antianxiety drug BuSpar. And another group of 29 states has sued Aventis and Andrx for conspiring to keep a generic version of Aventis' heart drug Cardizem off the market. |
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