AGs reach settlement with Indivior over alleged Suboxone monopoly

Indivior, Suboxone settlement overview: 

• Who: Indivior Inc. agreed to pay $102.5 million to end claims brought against it by a total of 42 state attorneys general. 
• Why: The state attorneys general accused Indivior of monopolizing the market for Suboxone, an opioid addiction treatment.
• Where: The Indivior/Suboxone settlement involved attorneys general nationwide.

Indivior Inc. agreed to pay $102.5 million to resolve claims the pharmaceutical company monopolized the market for the opioid addiction treatment Suboxone.

The Indivior/Suboxone settlement ends allegations lobbied against Indivior by a total of 42 state attorneys general that were scheduled to begin litigation in September, Law360 reports. 

The attorneys general, led by the Wisconsin Attorneys General Office, accused Indivior of concocting a scheme to have patients switch from a tablet form of Suboxone to a dissolvable film version to keep its monopoly on the drug in place. 

Indivior, along with its parent company, Reckitt Benckiser, previously came to settlement agreements with federal and state enforcers totaling more than $2 billion, Law360 reports. 

The attorneys general took aim against Indivior in 2016, accusing the company of switching its patients from the tablet to a new dissolvable film form of Suboxone in an effort to stave off emerging competition. 

The switch came as exclusivity protections that existed on the tablet form of Suboxone were about to end, Law360 reports. 

Indivior accused of making false statements to FDA

Attorneys general argued Indivior made false statements to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about the safety of the tablet version of Suboxone to induce what is known as a “product-hop.” 

They also accused Indivior of making false claims to the FDA about the potential for the tablet form of Suboxone to lead to accidental pediatric exposure, Law360 reports. 

Ultimately, the attorneys general argued the move from tablet to dissolvable film delayed generic versions of Suboxone from entering the market and increased the price of the tablet form prior to it being pulled from the market. 

Reckitt Benckiser and Indivior agreed to pay $500,000 last November to resolve similar Federal Trade Commission claims.

Have you purchased the opioid addiction treatment Suboxone? Let us know in the comments! 

The Indivior/Suboxone cases are In re: Suboxone (Buprenorphine Hydrochloride and Naloxone) Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 2:13-md-02445, and Wisconsin, et al. v. Indivior Inc., et al., Case No. 2:16-cv-05073, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

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