In addition to the nightmare of Medicare D(isaster), including all of possible conflicts of interest,the money that private interests have spent in getting Medicare D(isaster) passed, the windfall profits that are anticipated by the Rx industy, the donut hole/gap in coverage, there are also serious concerns being raised about the practices/deals of the rx industry.
Brand-name drug companies have resumed the practice of slowing the sale of cheaper generic competitors by cutting deals that result in paying millions of dollars to makers of generic drugs while consumers continue to pay brand-name prices.
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These agreements were after appellate rulings, rejecting FTC actions that prohibited brand-name companies from paying competitiors to not challenge patents. The FTC discovered seven agreements in fiscal year (FY) 2006, three in FY 2005. Previously, generic companies were not paid to drop a patent challenge.
FTC Commissioner Jon Leibowitz said
if the appeals court decisions remain in force, rival drugmakers will have “carte blanche to avoid competition and share resulting profits.” [In addition,] the commission had agreed to ask the Supreme Court to overturn one of the lower-court decisions.
“Until recently, payments by brand-name companies to generics were the exception, but now they’re the rule. They appear to be a new way to do business, and that’s very troubling. Hopefully the Supreme Court will take our case and reverse.”
Brand-name and generic companies agree to end their litigation, with both benefit but not the public. These agreements allow the branded companies to hold their patent longer and the generic company is paid to not contest it. Then generic manufacturers then make lower-priced versions of the brand-name company’s drug in the future.
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and the Generic Pharmaceutical Association refused comment on this action.
UPDATE: link
The FTC said last month it planned to subpoena nearly 200 pharmaceutical companies as part of a probe of possible anticompetitive practices in the prescription drug industry.
The subpoenas, which require Office of Management and Budget approval, would form part of an investigation into whether pharmaceutical companies are stifling competition by releasing authorized generic copies of their own brand-name drugs to coincide with the debut of generic challengers made by competitors.
