CHARLESTON W.Va. (WVDN) — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, through the office’s Consumer Protection and Antitrust Division, has sent letters to the state’s 55 counties and 229 cities, informing officials of their share from a settlement between the state and pharmaceutical companies Pfizer Inc. (and related companies) and Ranbaxy Inc. (and related companies) in an antitrust lawsuit involving a generic version of cholesterol drug Lipitor.
The lawsuit alleged the two companies conspired to delay the introduction of a generic version of Pfizer’s Lipitor that was produced by Ranbaxy.
“The money for the counties and cities are to partially recover their excess payments or reimbursements for the medication,” Attorney General Morrisey said. “The political subdivisions do not need to take any action in receiving their share.”
The amount each county and city would receive depends on the size of their population—the counties will receive a total of $1,630,000; cities, $1,855,000.
Counties:
- 12 Counties Fewer than 10,000 pop. (12 x $10,000 = $120,000)
- 32 Counties More than10,000 but fewer than 50,000 (32 x $30,000 = $ 960,000)
- 11 Counties More than 50,000 pop. (11 x $50,000 = $550,000.00)
Cities:
- 13 Class 2 (population in excess of 10K but no more than 50K) 13x $25,000 = $325,000
- 45 Class 3 (in excess of 2K but no more than 10K) 45 x $15,000 = $675,000
- 171 Class 4 (Pop. 2K or fewer) 171 x $5,000 = $ 855,000.00
The lawsuit was filed in 2013 and alleged the two companies created a scheme that prevented a generic, cheaper version of the cholesterol-lowering drug to be introduced on the market for 20 months—Lipitor’s original patent expired on March 24, 2010.
“This is a big victory for the free market and consumers who may have paid more than what they should have for the much-needed medication,” Attorney General Morrisey said. “In all aspects of business, and that includes the pharmaceutical business, competition is key to a healthy marketplace.”
