U.S. Drugmakers Accused Of Violating Antitrust Law

By Julie Appleby, USA TODAY
A San Francisco law firm filed an antitrust lawsuit Thursday in state court against 15 of the biggest drugmakers, alleging they have conspired to charge "artificially higher prices" for their drugs in the USA and have acted to prevent importation of lower-priced drugs.
The case, filed in Superior Court in Oakland on behalf of 14 independent California pharmacists, targets not only the price differences between the USA and other countries, but also recent efforts by some drugmakers to limit supplies of their products to Canadian pharmacies who sell to U.S. residents.
"The reason they are trying to prevent cheaper drugs from coming into the U.S. is they are protecting the U.S. market, where they have fixed high prices," says attorney Joseph Alioto, who has spent much of his career pursuing antitrust cases.
Debate continues over allowing U.S. residents increased access to lower-cost drugs from abroad. Several states and cities have Web sites to help consumers buy foreign drugs. The Food and Drug Administration, as well as some pharmacist groups, say such purchases could be unsafe.
Among the 15 companies named in the lawsuit are Pfizer, Merck, Bristol-Myers Squibb and GlaxoSmithKline.


Weight loss without dieting