Beshear joins suit against drug companies alleging price inflation

Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear joined attorneys general from 19 other states in a lawsuit against six pharmaceutical companies, alleging the companies inflated and manipulated prices on generic drugs.

The lawsuit, initiated by an investigation by Connecticut’s attorney general, was filed against Aurobindo Pharma USA, Citron Pharma, Heritage Pharmaceuticals, Mayne Pharma, Mylan Pharmaceuticals and Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, and claims the companies unreasonably restrained trade, artificially inflated and manipulated drug prices and reduced competition in the U.S. for generic drugs including an antibiotic and an oral diabetes medication.

“The alleged actions by these companies constitute a massive conspiracy that has caused significant, harmful and continuing effects not just in the country’s health care system but right here in Kentucky,” Beshear said. “At a time when access to affordable health care and low-cost medicine for our seniors and families could not be more critical, these companies have allegedly conspired to rip them off, charging far higher prices than Kentucky families should have to pay.”

Pharmaceutical companies and the prices they set for medication have come under fire recently. In two notable examples, the CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, Martin Shkreli, came under fire in 2015 for significantly increasing the price of a medication largely used by patients with HIV. In 2016, Mylan CEO Heather Bresch received criticism for raising the price of the Epi-Pen by 461 percent between 2007 and 2016.

Kentucky joined Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Washington, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Virginia in the lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court for Connecticut.

This story was originally published December 15, 2016 at 12:38 PM with the headline "Beshear joins suit against drug companies alleging price inflation."