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A lawsuit over AbbVie and Besins’ monopoly on generic testosterone gels concluded yesterday. Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield settled with the pharmaceutical giant, which will pay $9.25 million.
Oregon Settles AbbVie and Besins Lawsuit On Generic Testosterone Gel Monopoly
To prevent competitors from manufacturing generic versions of testosterone gels, AbbVie and Besins gamed the system by filing lawsuits to prolong the amount of time they could charge customers high prices.
Rayfield said, “These are the sneaky legal tricks that pharmaceutical companies will use to keep drug prices high for as long as they can.”
The U.S. Supreme Court threw out a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) lawsuit on appeal after they had won a $448 million disgorgement remedy.
The court claimed the FTC Act did not provide for a disgorgement remedy, removing a formidable federal tool to force companies to return profits earned through inflated prices. Disgorged profits are funds received through illegal or unethical transactions and paid back with interest or penalties.
Oregon has this remedy in place.
As a result, AG Rayfield and his team at the Oregon DOJ, led by Senior Assistant Attorney General Brian De Haan and Special Assistant Attorney General Chris Kayser, filed a lawsuit—the only state to file an action seeking to recover the profits from these drug companies.
The drug companies used what’s known as “sham patent litigation” to falsely claim that other drug manufacturers were infringing on their patents.
While patients, insurance companies, and Medicaid paid steep prices for the testosterone gels, AbbVie and Besins raked in billions of dollars in profits.
The settlement includes $6,197,500 in disgorged profits and penalties, plus attorney fees and costs.
The funds will go to Oregon Medicaid, which paid the inflated prices for the testosterone gel, a protection and education fund for the ODOJ, and the antitrust and consumer protection divisions.
Rayfield confirmed that they have noticed that the federal government is scaling back several restrictions and said, “The state attorneys general have to stand up and fill the hole that is left to protect our consumers.”
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