AARP Joins Three Lawsuits Accusing Drug Industry of Blocking Market Entry of Generics

As expected, AARP, an advocacy group for Americans ages 50 and older, on May 29 announced plans to join the Boston-based Prescription Access Litigation Project in three class-action lawsuits that charge pharmaceutical companies with "illegally blocking generic competitors," the Wall Street Journal reports (Lueck, Wall Street Journal, 5/30). In the past year, PAL, a coalition of 75 consumer and health groups, has filed 30 class-action lawsuits that accuse large drug companies of improperly inflating prices for a number of treatments (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 5/29). AARP decided to join three of the lawsuits "because they involve drugs widely used by people ages 50 and older" (Wall Street Journal, 5/30). The cases include:

• The BuSpar case, in which plaintiffs allege that Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. engaged in a series of "illegal actions designed to maintain its monopoly" on BuSpar, an anti-anxiety treatment;
• The K-Dur 20 case, in which plaintiffs allege that Schering-Plough Corp., Upsher-Smith Laboratories and American Home Products Corp. -- re-named Wyeth earlier this year -- "conspired illegally" to prevent a generic version of K-Dur 20, a potassium supplement, from reaching the market; and
• The Tamoxifen case, in which plaintiffs allege that Astra-Zeneca PLC and Barr Laboratories "colluded illegally" to prevent a generic version of Tamoxifen, a breast cancer treatment, from reaching the market (PAL release, 5/29).

Criticism from Drug Makers
The pharmaceutical industry denied the allegations in the lawsuits and criticized AARP's decision to participate in the cases. Jeffrey Trewhitt, a spokesperson for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said, "Instead of working with ... Congress and the White House, AARP has chosen to team up with the nation's trial lawyers. That's not going to resolve the pharmaceutical access problem" (Pear, New York Times, 5/30). He added that AARP "maybe should be more focused on urging Congress to reform the problem through Medicare drug coverage" (Wall Street Journal, 5/30). According to the Times, AARP's decision to join the lawsuits will add to the "legal fire power" of PAL plaintiffs but does not "ensure that they will prevail." However, Eric Weissenstein, an analyst with the Charles Schwab Washington Research Group, said, "If enough pressure if brought to bear through litigation like this, it could affect the strategies that drug companies use to set prices and to preserve their market position" (New York Times, 5/30).