Generic Drug Maker To Admit to Fixing Prices for Cholesterol Drug

A top generic drug maker will admit that it fixed prices of a popular cholesterol drug and agree to pay more than US$24 million as part of the Justice Department’s broad crackdown on price fixing and bid rigging in the generic drug market, according to The New York Times. 

Apotex is expected to settle charges with the Justice Department as early as Thursday, May 7, that it worked with other drug companies to inflate the price of its cholesterol drug, pravastatin, from 2013 to 2015, according to the people familiar with the talks, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the documents before they were filed.

The Justice Department’s investigation into generic drug prices, which should remain low and stable, is one of several inquiries into significant price increases that have driven up health costs for consumers and government programs like Medicare.

Congress has been investigating the rising costs of several popular generic drugs over the past several years and state attorneys general have subpoenaed drug makers. President Trump and Democratic politicians have regularly called for costs to be constrained.

Full Content: New York Times

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