The Supreme Court is about to review the practice of the “ethical” pharmaceutical industry paying generic manufacturers to keep their product from competing with the branded drug.
After a long period of exclusivity and monopoly the drug industry wants more. Rather than price their drugs reasonably the companies push to stifle competition. The new American way?
The case, Federal Trade Commission v. Actavis, No. 12-416, centers on whether the maker of a brand-name drug can pay a generic-drug company to keep the generic version off the market. Based on antitrust law, the obvious answer would seem to be no, the view voiced by the government and most recently upheld by a federal appeals court.
Medicynical note: Yet another reason we lead the world in drug and health care costs. There are a number of drugs available as generics overseas that continue to be sold as branded items here. Where is the outrage?
Medicynic 