Hello, everyone, and how are you today? A steely gray sky is hovering this morning over the Pharmalot campus, where the short person is sleeping in and the official mascot is resting before a play date. As for us, we are foraging for interesting stories and quaffing cups of stimulation, as you might have guessed. Our choice today is bourbon pecan. And you? Is your schedule filled with meetings and deadlines and what-not? It should be, yes? Well, to help you along, here are some tidbits. Hope you conquer the world today, and do keep us in mind when you see something fascinating. …
Teva Pharmaceutical and Allergan, a unit of AbbVie, reached a settlement worth $161.5 million to resolve claims the companies fueled an opioid epidemic in West Virginia, Reuters notes. The state had accused Teva and Allergan of deceiving prescribers about the risks of opioids when marketing their drugs for the treatment of chronic pain. The misleading marketing led to an increase in substance abuse and overdose deaths, according to West Virginia’s complaint. The settlement ended a trial that had been proceeding for two months in Kanawha County Circuit Court. The companies did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement.
Several pharmaceutical wholesalers escaped federal antitrust litigation over an alleged industry-wide price-fixing scheme by top manufacturers of generic drugs, Bloomberg News reports. U.S. District Court Judge Cynthia Rufe let the companies exit part of a sprawling multidistrict dispute that includes several parallel class actions, individual lawsuits by large health care companies, and claims on behalf of major municipalities and nearly every state. Rufe tossed claims the wholesalers participated in an “overarching conspiracy” by “orchestrating coordinated price increases,” acting as an informational conduit for the cartel, and “policing” the scheme to ensure no drugmakers defected.
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