BY ELISE YOUNG
NJ Spotlight
New Jersey residents who bought certain generic drugs – including off-brand versions of Celebrex, Prozac, Coumadin and other commonly prescribed medicines — may be due payments as a result of a $96.5 million multistate legal settlement with manufacturers.
A coalition of states is returning millions of dollars “to those potentially harmed by the elevated prices” of 114 generic drugs purchased from 2009-2019, according to New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport. The products were to treat asthma, heart conditions, depression, cancer, psoriasis, infections and other ailments.
Generic medicines are designed to work like brand-name versions and typically have lower prices, making them sought-after alternatives for insurance companies and consumers paying out of pocket.
It’s not known how much compensation is due to individual consumers from the settlement, which was approved by U.S. District Court in Connecticut. The deadline to file a claim is Nov. 9.Check the drug list
Davenport on Tuesday urged consumers to check for eligibility by calling 1-866-290-0182, emailing info@AGGenericDrugs.com or visiting AGGenericDrugs.com. That site includes a link to a claims form.
“These settlements should help consumers who are already facing out-of-control costs for prescription drugs,” Davenport said. “We urge consumers to check online or call the hotline to see if they qualify to recover money they should not have had to pay.”
The payouts stem from a series of lawsuits begun in 2016 by 48 states and territories. In all, more than 100 companies and individuals have been named in four antitrust complaints involving what Davenport’s office called “different conspiracies.”
The states’ investigations, her office said, were based on “millions of documents and a massive phone record database.”
“Each complaint addresses a different set of drugs and defendants and lays out an interconnected web of competing industry executives who regularly met and communicated with each other, providing ample opportunity to form illegal agreements,” according to the news release.
Defendants “used terms like ‘fair share,’ ‘playing nice in the sandbox,’ and ‘responsible competitor’ to unlawfully discourage competition, raise prices and enforce an ingrained culture of collusion.”
The payouts announced on Tuesday involve drugs manufactured by Glenmark, Lannett, Bausch, Aptotex, and Heritage and its parent, Encure.
