Pfizer Unit Settles Skelaxin Pay-For-Delay Class Action Lawsuit

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Pfizer Inc. unit King Pharmaceuticals Inc. and a generic drug maker will pay $73 million to settle a class action lawsuit that accused the companies of making a pay-for-delay deal over the muscle relaxant Skelaxin in violation of federal antitrust laws, according to court documents filed Wednesday.

Under the terms of the Skelaxin class action settlement, King and Mutual Pharmaceutical Co. will create a settlement fund to resolve the claims of nearly 50 direct-purchaser Class Members from across the United States who alleged King paid Mutual more than $200 million to delay the drug maker from developing and marketing metaxalone, the generic form of Skelaxin.

Class Members of the Skelaxin settlement include all individuals or entities in the United States who purchased Skelaxin directly from King between Nov. 4, 2005 and April 30, 2014. Representative plaintiffs of the Skelaxin class action settlement include Professional Drug Company Inc., Meijer Inc., Ahold USA Inc., Rochester Drug Co-Operative and Stephen L. LaFrance Pharmacy Inc. d/b/a SAJ Distributors and Stephen L. LaFrance Holdings Inc.

“All of the Direct Purchaser Settlement Class members share a common interest in proving Defendant’s alleged anti-competitive conduct, and all Direct Purchaser Settlement Class members share a common interest in recovering the overcharge damages sought” in the Skelaxin class action lawsuit, the judge wrote in his motion preliminarily approving the deal.

Several Skelaxin class action lawsuits were filed by drug wholesalers and retailers in the wake of a 2005 patent infringement settlement between King and Mutual, and were grouped into multidistrict litigation (MDL) in April 2012. The plaintiffs alleged that the arrangement between the pharmaceutical companies substantially delayed the availability of the generic version of Skelaxin and resulted in the drug being sold at artificially high prices.

On April 30, U.S. District Court Judge Curtis L. Collier granted preliminary approval to the Skelaxin class action settlement involving the direct purchasers of Skelaxin, finding that the agreement had been reached following extensive arm’s-length negotiations and “falls within the range of possibly approvable settlements.” A hearing on final approval of the Skelaxin pay-for-delay settlement has been scheduled for Sept. 9, 2014.

Retailers including Rite Aid Inc. have been unsuccessful in their efforts seeking class certification thus far. Earlier this year, the court found that certification of a class of retailers was inappropriate because individual fact-finding was necessary for some of the claims in their class action lawsuit. Further, some of the plaintiffs were multistate chain drug stores, and that they couldn’t clearly show where they purchased their Skelaxin or that they paid artificially high prices for the muscle relaxer.

The plaintiffs are represented by Thomas M. Sobol, David S. Nalven and Lauren G. Barnes of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP.

The Skelaxin Pay-For-Delay Class Action Lawsuit is In re: Skelaxin (Metaxalone) Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 1:12-md-02343, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

UPDATE: Settlement websites have been established for the Skelaxin class action settlements. If you operate a business in Tennessee and purchased Skelaxin for resale, click here or visit www.SkelaxinTennesseeSettlement.com. If you operate a business outside of Tennessee and purchased Skelaxin for resale, click here or visit www.SkelaxinPharmacySettlement.com for more information.