'Price Collusion': 44 States Sued Against Top 20 US Pharmaceutical Companies

State 44 sued 20, the largest US pharmaceutical company, reports Voice of America.

Фото: Depositphotos

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, who led the investigation, said that the pharmaceutical cartel entered into a criminal conspiracy to artificially raise prices, suppress competition and restrict trade for more than 100 generic drugs, that is, cheaper counterparts of original drugs.

According to the anti-monopoly lawsuit, the prices of some drugs were inflated 10 times. As the Connecticut Attorney General notes, the pharmaceutical cartel has manipulated the cost of many essential medicines, including antibiotics, painkillers, antidepressants, anticonvulsants, HIV medications and contraceptives.

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“We are talking about medicines that are vital to people in this country to combat acute and chronic diseases - from diabetes and cancer to depression and arthritis. We all wonder why medicine and, in particular, the cost of generics are so high in our country. What we've learned is one of the big reasons for this problem,” said William Tong, Connecticut Attorney General.

According to the Connecticut Prosecutor’s Office, farm cartel members agreed on the cost of the drug on golf courses and cocktails, as well as in electronic correspondence, urging each other to play according to internal rules.

“We have compelling evidence that the affordable drug industry has committed a multibillion-dollar fraud against the American people. “We have emails, text messages, phone records and testimony from former employees that will prove that there was a conspiracy over many years to inflate prices and reshape the supply market for a huge number of generic drugs,” says Tong.

State 44 intends to achieve punishment for companies and individuals who have organized criminal schemes, and to compensate as much as possible the damage to the country's health care system. The question of what percentage of the more than 400 billions of dollars that Americans spent on drugs last year is the illegal income of the pharmaceutical cartel is not yet clear.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump, who promised to achieve lower drug prices during the election campaign, ordered the launch of the initiative this week. Within its framework, the Minister of Health and Social Services, Alex Azar, demanded that manufacturers of medicines purchased by Medicaid and Medicare programs inform consumers about their purchase price in commercials on television. The White House hopes that in this way consumers will be able to make better decisions even before they visit the doctor.

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American physicians generally welcome this innovation.

Dr. Alison Hofstetler of the Georgetown School of Medicine points out that there are a number of flaws in this idea.

“The motive behind this initiative is very good. This is about achieving transparency and increasing consumer awareness. For the US, where direct advertising of drugs is allowed, this is a plus, but there are also some disadvantages. The first is that most insurance companies change prescription drug prices frequently. Some patients may not seek help, knowing that the cost of medications will be very high, but in fact their insurance may cover most of it. Second, I am wary of the idealization of more expensive drugs because many patients with financial means believe they are more effective, which is often not the case,” says Hofstetler.

According to the doctor, to solve the problem of the high cost of medicines the United States and the White House should study the experience of Europe.

“Yes, research work and investments in science by pharmaceutical companies should be reimbursed, but I would like to see the situation that exists in Europe, that is, setting a maximum limit for such benefits. Otherwise, we will continue to face constant price increases for drugs such as insulin, the cost of development of which has already been offset for a long time,” says the doctor.

According to analysts, in the presidential elections in 2020, the issue of health care will be one of the most pressing. While some Democrats advocate a greater role for the state in regulating the prices of medical goods and services, Republicans continue to insist that health care should remain in the plane of market relations, rather than social security.

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