Drug-pricing case brings $78.4m judgment

MONTGOMERY, Alabama - Jurors ordered the German-based pharmaceutical company Sandoz Inc. yesterday to pay Alabama $78.4 million for causing government insurance programs to pay too much for prescription drugs from 1991 to 2005.

The jury ordered Sandoz, a subsidiary of Novartis AG, to pay $28.4 million to compensate the government for its losses and another $50 million in punitive damages. Jurors took about four hours to return a verdict.

"We had a very strong case and we are satisfied," said attorney Jere Beasley, who represented the state in a trial lasting little more than two weeks.

Sandoz attorney Tavor Novak said the company would appeal.

Sandoz, which is based in Holzkirchen, Germany, is one of more than 70 prescription drug makers sued by Alabama Attorney General Troy King in 2005 over drug prices dating to 1991. This is the third time a jury in Alabama has ruled against pharmaceutical companies in lawsuits brought by King.

A year ago, an Alabama jury ordered the US subsidiary of UK drug maker AstraZeneca to pay the state $215 million - $40 million in compensatory damages and $175 million in punitive damages. But Circuit Judge Charles Price reduced the combined amount to $160 million.

In July, another Montgomery County jury found GlaxoSmithKline liable for nearly $81 million in compensatory damages and Novartis liable for about $33 million in similar damages. No punitive damages were awarded.

AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, and Novartis have appealed their cases to the Alabama Supreme Court. The state has settled 10 of the lawsuits for nearly $35 million.