SETTLEMENT CLOSE IN DRUG PRICE LAWSUIT.Byline: Milt Freudenheim The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times Thirteen big drug manufacturers are close to agreement on a huge cash settlement in a class action lawsuit class action lawsuit A lawsuit in which one party or a limited number of parties sue on behalf of a larger group to which the parties belong. For example, investors may bring a class action lawsuit against a brokerage firm that has actively promoted a tax brought by thousands of retail pharmacies, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. lawyers familiar with the case. The pharmacies have accused the drug makers of overcharging them in violation of federal antitrust laws antitrust laws n. acts adopted by Congress to outlaw or restrict business practices considered to be monopolistic or which restrain interstate commerce. The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 declared illegal "every contract, combination.... . The lawsuit, one of several parallel actions filed on behalf of pharmacy groups, contends that these and other drug makers conspired to charge the independents higher prices than they charged big buyers under managed health care drug plans. But the tentative agreement, first reported by The Wall Street Journal on Thursday, apparently would not require the drug makers to offer the independent pharmacies the same low prices that are typically offered to mail-order pharmacies, health maintenance organizations and the drug benefit plans of big employers. The settlement, which the lawyers said would probably be apportioned ap·por·tion tr.v. ap·por·tioned, ap·por·tion·ing, ap·por·tions To divide and assign according to a plan; allot: "The tendency persists to apportion blame as suits the circumstances" on the basis of the manufacturers' market shares, may set records, starting with $600 million in payments to 40,000 independent pharmacies. If accepted by the drug makers and by federal Judge Charles Kocoras in Chicago, the total settlement of this and related suits could climb into the billions, as discount and drug chains and groceries that sell drugs weigh in. Lawyers for the big chain drugstores, led by Rite Aid Rite Aid (NYSE: RAD) is a United States retailer and pharmacy chain, operating over 5,000 stores in 31 states and the District of Columbia. Rite Aid Corporation is one of the nation's leading drugstore chains. Corp., said they would go ahead with their separate lawsuit, which accuses the manufacturers of price discrimination in violation of the Robinson-Patman Federal fair trade law. "Our intention is to move forward and try these cases unless there is a complete understanding as to how the manufacturers can establish a level playing field See net neutrality. that would pass on lower prices to the consumer," said Franklin Brown, general counsel of Rite Aid. Most elderly Americans pay the higher prices at retail drugstores. Only a small minority of those eligible for Medicare are covered for prescription drugs under HMOs or retiree benefits from former employers. |
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