Schering-Plough, etc sued over K-Dur20

The US Prescription Access Litigation consumer coalition has filed sixlawsuits against Schering-Plough, Upsher-Smith and ESI Lederle, claiming that the firms conspired to keep generic versions of S-P's potassium supplement K-Dur20, which is used in conjunction with drugs to treat high blood pressure, off the market.

The PAL lawsuits have been filed in district courts in New Jersey and Minnesota and in state courts in New York, Louisiana, Massachusetts and Maine. They claim that S-P paid the other two companies more than $80 million to keep their generics off the market, leading to consumers having to pay "artificially inflated prices" for the drug for more than three years. The firms have already been charged with the same offenses by the Federal Trade Commission (Marketletter April 9); the FTC wants S-P to license its K-Dur20 patent to Upsher Smith and Lederle immediately and to remove from Upsher-Smith a six-month generic exclusivity period on the drug.

However, the companies say they believe their agreements are legal, and add that they will contest both the FTC action and the class-action lawsuit.