BOSTON — Massachusetts consumers who bought certain generic drugs over the past decade may be eligible for compensation under a multi-state antitrust settlement, the Attorney General’s Office said Tuesday.
A federal judge in Connecticut this month granted preliminary approval of a plan to distribute settlement funds from generic drug manufacturers accused of conspiring to inflate prices. Massachusetts joined 47 other states and territories in the case.
Consumers who purchased an eligible generic drug between May 2009 and December 2019 can check their eligibility and file a claim here, by calling 1-866-290-0182 or by emailing info@AGGenericDrugs.com. A list of covered drugs is posted on the settlement website.
The distribution plan draws on roughly $96.5 million in prior settlements with manufacturers Glenmark, Lannett, Bausch, Apotex and Heritage, along with Heritage’s parent company, Emcure.
The settlements stem from four antitrust complaints the state coalition has filed since 2016 against generic drug makers and executives. The first complaint named Heritage Pharmaceuticals and 17 other corporate defendants over 15 drugs. A second, filed in 2019, targeted Teva Pharmaceuticals and 21 other manufacturers, along with 16 senior executives. A third complaint, the first scheduled for trial, covers 80 topical generic drugs and names 26 corporate defendants and 10 individuals. Attorneys general filed a fourth complaint in February against Novartis AG and Sandoz, and later announced a $400 million settlement in principle with Sandoz.
Investigators built the cases on cooperating witnesses, millions of documents and phone records that they said showed competing executives regularly communicating to divide markets and hold prices steady, using terms such as “fair share” and “playing nice in the sandbox,” according to the complaints.
The following states and territories joined Tuesday’s announcement: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, the Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
