AFSCME Expected To Join Prescription Access Litigation Project
Officials at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees plan to announce on Oct. 9 that the union will join the Boston-based Prescription Access Litigation Project, a coalition of public interest groups that has filed 14 lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies, the AP/Nando Times reports. AFSCME, which represents 1.4 million workers nationwide, has lobbied on prescription drug price issues in the past, but the decision to join the Prescription Access Litigation Project would mark the first time that the union has become involved with litigation. AFSCME has signed on as a co-plaintiff in two lawsuits filed by the coalition. The first lawsuit alleges that GlaxoSmithKline and SmithKline Beecham filed fraudulent patent extensions for the antibiotic Augmentin, and the second suit alleges that Elan and Biovail, two generic drug companies, divided the market to increase profits. Steven Kreisberg, AFSCME associate director for research and collective bargaining, said, "We feel it's time to open up a new front. Unfortunately, drug companies have been exceedingly greedy, and we feel maybe the best way to hit them is to hit them in the pocketbook, which seems to be all they're paying attention to" (AP/Nando Times, 10/8).
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