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Attorney General William Tong

05/12/2019

ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG LEADS 44-STATE COALITION IN ANTITRUST LAWSUIT AGAINST TEVA PHARMACEUTICALS, 19 OTHER GENERIC DRUG MANUFACTURERS, 15 INDIVIDUALS IN CONSPIRACY TO FIX PRICES AND ALLOCATE MARKETS FOR MORE THAN 100 DIFFERENT GENERIC DRUGS

Second Lawsuit Filed in Ongoing, Expanding Investigation

(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong led a 44-state coalition in announcing a lawsuit against Teva Pharmaceuticals and 19 of the nation's largest generic drug manufacturers alleging a broad conspiracy to artificially inflate and manipulate prices, reduce competition and unreasonably restrain trade for more than 100 different generic drugs. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, also names 15 individual senior executive defendants at the heart of the conspiracy who were responsible for sales, marketing, pricing and operations. The drugs at issue account for billions of dollars of sales in the United States, and the alleged schemes increased prices affecting the health insurance market, taxpayer-funded healthcare programs like Medicare and Medicaid, and individuals who must pay artificially-inflated prices for their prescriptions drugs.

The complaint alleges that Teva, Sandoz, Mylan, Pfizer and 16 other generic drug manufacturers engaged in a broad, coordinated and systematic campaign to conspire with each other to fix prices, allocate markets and rig bids for more than 100 different generic drugs. The drugs span all types, including tablets, capsules, suspensions, creams, gels, ointments, and classes, including statins, ace inhibitors, beta blockers, antibiotics, anti-depressants, contraceptives, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and treat a range of diseases and conditions from basic infections to diabetes, cancer, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, HIV, ADHD, and more. In some instances, the coordinated price increases were over 1,000 percent.

The complaint lays out an interconnected web of industry executives where these competitors met with each other during industry dinners, "girls nights out", lunches, cocktail parties, golf outings and communicated via frequent telephone calls, emails and text messages that sowed the seeds for their illegal agreements. Throughout the complaint, defendants use terms like "fair share," "playing nice in the sandbox," and "responsible competitor" to describe how they unlawfully discouraged competition, raised prices and enforced an ingrained culture of collusion.

The lawsuit seeks damages, civil penalties and actions by the court to restore competition to the generic drug market.

"We have hard evidence that shows the generic drug industry perpetrated a multi-billion dollar fraud on the American people. We have emails, text messages, telephone records, and former company insiders that we believe will prove a multi-year conspiracy to fix prices and divide market share for huge numbers of generic drugs. These are drugs that people in this country rely on every day for acute and chronic conditions and diseases from diabetes and cancer to depression and arthritis. We all wonder why our healthcare, and specifically the prices for generic prescription drugs, are so expensive in this country—this is a big reason why. This investigation is still in its early stages. We will not stop until these companies and the individuals who orchestrated these schemes are held accountable," said Attorney General William Tong.

The complaint is the second to be filed in an ongoing, expanding investigation that the Connecticut Office of the Attorney General has referred to as possibly the largest cartel case in the history of the United States. The first complaint, still pending in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, was filed in 2016 and now includes 18 corporate defendants, two individual defendants, and 15 generic drugs. Two former executives from Heritage Pharmaceuticals, Jeffery Glazer and Jason Malek, have entered into settlement agreements and are cooperating with the Attorneys General working group in that case.

In addition to Connecticut, Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Puerto Rico joined the suit.


Assistant Attorneys General Joseph Nielsen, Laura Martella, Antonia Conti, Rachel Davis, Cynthia Courtney and Christine Miller; Paralegal Holly McDonald and Gaile Colaresi; and Assistant Attorney General Michael Cole, chief of the Antitrust and Government Program Fraud Department, are assisting the Attorney General with this matter.

Corporate Defendants

      1. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc.

      2. Sandoz, Inc.

      3. Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc.

      4. Actavis Holdco US, Inc.

      5. Actavis Pharma, Inc.

      6. Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

      7. Apotex Corp.

      8. Aurobindo Pharma U.S.A., Inc.

      9. Breckenridge Pharmaceutical, Inc.

      10. Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Inc.

      11. Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Inc. USA

      12. Greenstone LLC

      13. Lannett Company, Inc.

      14. Lupin Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

      15. Par Pharmaceutical Companies, Inc.

      16. Pfizer, Inc.

      17. Taro Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc.

      18. Upsher-Smith Laboratories, LLC

      19. Wockhardt USA, LLC

      20. Zydus Pharmaceuticals (USA), Inc.

Individual defendants

  1. Ara Aprahamian, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Taro Pharmaceuticals U.S.A, Inc. David Berthold, Vice President of Sales at Lupin Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

  2. David Berthold, Vice President of Sales at Lupin Pharmaceuticals, Inc.


  3. James Brown, Vice President of Sales at Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

  4. Maureen Cavanaugh, former Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, North America, for Teva

  5. Marc Falkin, former Vice President, Marketing, Pricing and Contracts at Actavis

  6. James Grauso, former Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations for Aurobindo from December 2011 through January 2014. Since February 2014, Grauso has been employed as the Executive Vice President, N.A. Commercial Operations at Glenmark

  7. Kevin Green, former Director of National Accounts at Teva from January 2006 through October 2013. Since November 2013, Green has worked at Zydus Pharmaceuticals (USA) Inc. as the Vice President of Sales

  8. Armando Kellum, former Vice President, Contracting and Business Analytics at Sandoz

  9. Jill Nailor, Senior Director of Sales and National Accounts at Greenstone

  10. James Nesta, Vice President of Sales at Mylan

  11. Kon Ostaficiuk, the President of Camber Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

  12. Nisha Patel, former Director of Strategic Customer Marketing and later, Director of National Accounts at Teva.

  13. David Rekenthaler, former Vice President, Sales US Generics at Teva

  14. Richard Rogerson, former Executive Director of Pricing and Business Analytics at Actavis

  15. Tracy Sullivan DiValerio, Director of National Accounts at Lannett

    Drugs listed in the complaint as subject to price-fixing and market allocation agreements:

  1. Adapalene Gel

  2. Amiloride HCL/HCTZ Tablets

  3. Amoxicillin/Clavulanate Chewable Tablets

  4. Amphetamine/Dextroamphetamine ER (aka Mixed Amphetamine Salts)

  5. Amphetamine/Dextroamphetamine IR

  6. Azithromycin Oral Suspension

  7. Azithromycin Suspension

  8. Baclofen Tablets

  9. Benazepril HCTZ

  10. Bethanechol Chloride Tablets

  11. Budesonide DR Capsules

  12. Budesonide Inhalation

  13. Bumetanide Tablets

  14. Buspirone Hydrochloride Tablets

  15. Cabergoline

  16. Capecitabine

  17. Carbamazepine Chewable Tablets

  18. Carbamazepine Tablets

  19. Cefdinir Capsules

  20. Cefdinir Oral Suspension

  21. Cefprozil Tablets

  22. Celecoxib

  23. Cephalexin Suspension

  24. Cimetidine Tablets

  25. Ciprofloxacin Tablets

  26. Clarithromycin ER Tablets

  27. Clemastine Fumarate Tablets

  28. Clomipramine HCL

  29. Clonidine TTS Patch

  30. Clotrimazole Topical Solution

  31. Cyproheptadine HCL Tablets

  32. Desmopressin Acetate Tablets

  33. Desogestrel/Ethinyl Estradiol Tablets (Kariva)

  34. Dexmethylphenidate

  35. Dextroamphetamine Sulfate ER

  36. Diclofenac Potassium Tablets

  37. Dicloxacillin Sodium Capsules

  38. Diflunisal Tablets

  39. Diltiazem HCL Tablets

  40. Disopyramide Phosphate Capsules

  41. Doxazosin Mesylate Tablets

  42. Drospirenone and ethinyl estradiol (Ocella)

  43. Enalapril Maleate Tablets

  44. Entecavir

  45. Epitol Tablets

  46. Estazolam Tablets

  47. Estradiol Tablets

  48. Ethinyl estradiol and levonorgestrel (Portia and Jolessa)

  49. Ethosuximide Capsules

  50. Ethosuximide Oral Solution

  51. Etodolac ER Tablets

  52. Etodolac Tablets

  53. Fenofibrate

  54. Fluconazole Tablets

  55. Fluocinonide Cream

  56. Fluocinonide Emolient Cream

  57. Fluocinonide Gel

  58. Fluocinonide Ointment

  59. Fluoxetine HCL Tablets

  60. Flurbiprofen Tablets

  61. Flutamide Capsules

  62. Fluvastatin Sodium Capsules

  63. Gabapentin Tablets

  64. Glimepiride Tablets

  65. Griseofulvin Suspension

  66. Haloperidol

  67. Hydroxyurea Capsules

  68. Hydroxyzine Pamoate Capsules

  69. Irbesartan

  70. Isoniazid

  71. Ketoconazole Cream

  72. Ketoconazole Tablets

  73. Ketoprofen Capsules

  74. Ketorolac Tromethamine Tablets

  75. Labetalol HCL Tablets

  76. Lamivudine/Zidovudine (generic Combivir)

  77. Levothyroxine

  78. Loperamide HCL Capsules

  79. Medroxyprogesterone Tablets

  80. Methotrexate Tablets

  81. Mimvey (Estradiol/Noreth) Tablets

  82. Moexipril HCL Tablets

  83. Moexipril HCL/HCTZ Tablets

  84. Nabumetone Tablets

  85. Nadolol Tablets

  86. Niacin ER Tablets

  87. Nitrofurantoin MAC Capsules

  88. Norethindrone/ethinyl estradiol (Balziva)

  89. Northindrone Acetate

  90. Nortriptylline Hydrochloride Capsules

  91. Omega-3-Acid Ethyl Esters

  92. Oxaprozin Tablets

  93. Oxybutynin Chloride Tablets

  94. Paricalcitol

  95. Penicillin VK Tablets

  96. Pentoxifylline Tablets

  97. Piroxicam

  98. Pravastatin Sodium Tablets

  99. Prazosin HCL Capsules

  100. Prochlorperazine Tablets

  101. Propranolol HCL Tablets

  102. Raloxifine HCL Tablets

  103. Ranitidine HCL Tablets

  104. Tamoxifen Citrate Tablets

  105. Temozolomide

  106. Tizanidine

  107. Tobramycin

  108. Tolmetin Sodium Capsules

  109. Tolterodine ER

  110. Tolterodine Tartrate

  111. Topiramate Sprinkle Capsules

  112. Trifluoperazine HCL

  113. Valsartan HCTZ

  114. Warfarin Sodium Tablets


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Media Contact:

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