Drug makers face multiple class-action suits
AstraZeneca Plc, the United Kingdom's second-biggest drug maker, and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. may face multiple class-action lawsuits accusing them of overcharging for some medicines in the United States.
US District Judge Patti Saris said Tuesday approving a single nationwide class action might be difficult because many claims fall under consumer-protection laws that differ by state. She said she will instead consider grouping the claims based on similarities between state statutes.
"I'm not putting this on the back burner," Saris said at a hearing in Boston. She didn't say when she would rule.
The lawsuits accuse London-based AstraZeneca and New York-based Bristol-Myers of overcharging insurers, pension funds, and others for medicines such as cancer drugs that must be administered by physicians.
Steve Berman, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, urged Saris to certify a national class action, saying a Massachusetts case had established the basis for it.
In November, Saris ordered AstraZeneca to pay $12.9 million and Bristol-Myers $696,000 after concluding that they sold cancer drugs to doctors in the state at discounts to published "average wholesale prices," while secretly encouraging them to bill insurers in full.
Attorneys for the drug companies argued that too many differing consumer-protection statutes are involved in the case, potentially confusing jurors.
"The variations in the consumer-protection laws are all different," said Michael Flynn, an attorney for AstraZeneca.
Abbott Laboratories and 10 other companies that were accused of inflating drug prices agreed this month to pay $125 million to resolve similar claims.
