US FTC supports Bill banning "pay-for-delay" brand/generics firms settlements

Testifying on behalf of the Federal Trade Commission before the US House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy,  Bureau of Competition Director Richard Feinstein said that  anticompetitive patent settlements in the American pharmaceutical  industry delay consumer access to lower-cost generic drugs, and impose  "enormous costs" on consumers, employers, federal, state and local  governments, as well as the nation's health care system. The testimony  stated that congressional action to prohibit these "pay-for-delay"  settlements between brand-name drug manufacturers and their generic  competitors is "both appropriate and timely," and it would help contain  spiraling health care costs.