Aetna files lawsuit against 23 companies over alleged generic drug price-fixing

Aetna lawsuit overview: 

• Who: Health care company Aetna Inc. filed a lawsuit against 23 drugmakers, including Novartis, Pfizer and Teva, among others. 
• Why: Aetna claims the drugmakers conspired to fix the price of 111 widely used generic drugs, including penicillin and amoxicillin. 
• Where: The lawsuit was filed in the Hartford Judicial District of the Connecticut Superior Court. 

Health care company Aetna filed a lawsuit against 23 drugmakers over claims they conspired to fix the price of 111 generic medications, including penicillin and amoxicillin, among others. 

Aetna claims the drugmakers, including Novartis, Pfizer and Teva, engaged in a “far-reaching conspiracy” amongst themselves and others to “blatantly fix” the price of widely used generic drugs. 

The private health benefit provider argues the alleged conspiracy increased the profits of the drugmakers’ and that of those working with them, at the expense of itself, consumers and the government. 

“This overarching conspiracy, effectuated by a series of drug-specific conspiracies, thwarted competition across the generic drug industry,” the Aetna lawsuit claims. 

Alleged generic drug price-fixing conspiracy designed to evade detection, suit claims

The lawsuit argues the drugmakers orchestrated their alleged generic drug price-fixing conspiracy through secret communications and meetings, including at both public and private events. 

“The conspiracy, which infected the entire generic marketplace, was designed to evade detection,” the Aetna lawsuit argues. 

Aetna claims the drugmakers are guilty of monopolization and restraint of trade in violation of Connecticut antitrust law and unfair or deceptive trade practices in violation of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act. 

The company demands a jury trial and requests declaratory and injunctive relief and an award of actual, consequential, compensatory, treble, punitive and/or other damages. 

In another recent generic drug-related case, Swiss pharmaceutical company Sandoz Group AG and its subsidiaries Sandoz Inc. and Fougera Pharmaceuticals agreed to pay $275 million last month to put an end to claims they were part of an alleged price-fixing conspiracy in the generic drug industry. 

Have you ever had to pay an inflated price for a generic drug? Let us know in the comments.

Aetna is represented by Peter D. St. Phillip, Gerald Lawrence and Laura Mummert of Lowey Dannenberg PC; Todd M. Schneider, Matthew S. Weiler, J. Caleigh Macdonald and Jason H. Kim of Schneider Wallace Cottrell Konecky LLP; and Johnathan Seredynski and Krystyna Gancoss of Silver Golub & Teitell LLP. 

The Aetna lawsuit is Aetna Inc. v. Actavis Holdco US Inc., et al., Case No. HHD-CV 25-6196927-S, in the Hartford Judicial District of the Connecticut Superior Court. 

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