In May, more than 40 state attorneys general filed a lawsuit accusing pharma companies of engaging in anti-competitive practices to drive up the cost of generics. (Photo: Shutterstock)
Insurance giant Humana is taking drugmakers to court, alleging a price-fixing scheme that has driven up costs for insurers and patients alike.
Humana is accusing 37 generic drug manufacturers of colluding to set prices, in violation of antitrust laws.
"They leveraged the culture of cronyism in the generic drug industry to avoid price erosion, increase prices for targeted products, and maintain artificially inflated prices across their respective product portfolios without triggering a 'fight to the bottom' among competitors," Humana claims in its suit, which it filed last week in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
This echoes a suit Humana filed last year against pharma companies for price-fixing. That suit accused 30 drug-makers of conspiring to not compete against each other through meetings at industry trade events. That litigation is ongoing.
There is certainly political appetite to crack down on price-fixing. In May, more than 40 state attorneys general filed a lawsuit accusing pharma companies of engaging in anti-competitive practices to drive up the cost of generics.
"The level of corporate greed alleged in this multi-state lawsuit is heartless and unconscionable," Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak said at the time.
The various suits generally accuse drug-makers of unwritten agreements to divvy up the market to avoid competition that would drive down prices.
If any of these suits succeed in either a judgment against the drug industry or a settlement, you can expect other plaintiffs to pile on, just as they have in the case of opioid litigation. If a drug-maker concedes to engaging in illegal price-fixing, that will mean that individuals, insurers, health care provides and public health programs will all have a claim to being ripped off.
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