Consumers and Shire US Inc. have reached an agreement to settle a case in which the drugmaker was accused of paying rival drugmakers to delay selling less expensive versions of the ADHD drug Adderall. The joint motion to defer ruling on pending motions and the notice of settlement signal that the proposed class action lawsuit could be put to rest before heading to trial.
The court filing specifies that the drugmaker and consumers were able to reach a settlement in principle after attending a day-long mediation session before the start of the trial, which was scheduled to begin in March. On the notice, the court was asked to hold off ruling on a request to certify the class, Shire’s motion for summary judgment, motions by both sides to exclude expert testimony at trial, and other contested motions.
The proposed class action was originally filed in April 2013, accusing Shire of attempting to stave off competition from generic versions of Adderall produced by other drug companies. The lawsuit accused Shire of violating U.S. antitrust laws and causing roughly $10 million in damages to Florida consumers.
The consumer group fought for months to get the class status certified by a judge, and in December, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman issued a sealed report that recommended consumers be granted their certification request. Shire immediately rejected these findings, citing a number of alleged errors, outdated precedents, and incorrect legal standards.
The settlement notice indicates that after the execution of final settlement documents, plaintiffs will more for preliminary approval. It is anticipated that this will take roughly 45 days to finalize.
The plaintiffs are represented by , Richard M. Golomb, and Kenneth J. Grunfeld of Golomb Legal, P.C., Gillian L. Wade and Sara D. Avila of Milstein Adelman LLP. Conlee Whiteley, Alan Kanner and John R. Davis of Kanner & Whiteley LLC, and Brian T. Ku, Louis Mussman and M. Ryan Casey of Ku & Mussman PA.