Shire Sued By Consumers For "Pay For Delay"

Adderall manufacturer, Shire Pharmaceuticals, cannot seem to stay out of trouble with the U.S. Dept. of Justice and consumers. First, in October 2014, the company settled claims of deceptive marketing and agreed to pay more than $56.5 million. Now, they have been sued because of a “Pay for Delay” scheme with a generic drug manufacturer resulting in higher prices to consumers in violation of antitrust laws.

Here is how the scheme works. Under Federal law, when manufacturers of a brand name drug like Adderall (used for attention deficit disorder or “ADD”) come into the market they apply for and receive a patent which makes them the exclusive manufacturer and distributor of that drug for a fixed period of time. As the end of the patent period nears, or if there was a dubious extension of the patent, generic drug manufacturers file with the FDA forms known as “abbreviated new drug applications” which puts everyone on notice of their intention to enter the market as a generic manufacturer of that particular drug.

Lately, it has become common practice for the brand drug manufacturer to then sue the generic manufacturer for alleged patent infringement. In reality, all the lawsuit does is delay the generic drug manufacturer from entering the market and allows the brand manufacturer - in this case, Shire – to continue to sell billions of dollars of the branded drug at the expense of the consumer. Then, after a period of time, the brand and generic manufacturer settle the patent infringement case with the brand manufacturer paying off the generic manufacturer - effectively paying for their delay to enter the market.

Why should a consumer of Adderall care?

A consumer should care because as long as there is a delay in the entry of a generic to the market place, the consumer is paying either a dramatically inflated price for the drug or, if insured, they are paying a higher co-pay than he should.

If you or a loved one was prescribed Adderall XR between April, 2009 and June, 2012 you may have paid an inflated price or co-pay for the drug as a result of this ‘’pay for delay” scheme. If you have questions about your legal rights, please call the dangerous drug lawyers at Golomb Legal, P.C.

(215) 985-9177.

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