Arrr, Indivior be payin' $30M to scurvy dogs over claim o' keepin' generic competition at bay fer Suboxone.
2023-08-22
Arr, me hearties! Indivior be coughin' up a hefty $30M booty to put an end to a jolly lawsuit brought by them health plans! They be accusin' the scurvy dogs of unlawfully hamperin' competition for their opium remedy, Suboxone!
Avast ye, me hearties! Indivior, the scallywag drugmaker, has agreed to part with a hefty sum of $30 million to settle a class action lawsuit in a court over yonder in the United States. Them health plans be accusing Indivior of illegal antics, specifically, suppressing generic competition for their opioid addiction treatment known as Suboxone.The settlement, me hearties, was made known on a fine Saturday in a filing by lawyers representin' the health plans in a federal court in Philadelphia. But, mind ye, it still needs the approval of a judge before it's all said and done. Ahoy, there's more trouble brewin' for Indivior! They still have claims from drug wholesalers who bought Suboxone straight from the Virginia-based company. A trial for that matter is set for October.
Captain Mark Crossley, the CEO of Indivior, made a statement sayin' that they be dedicated to helpin' them poor souls sufferin' from substance use disorders and mental illness. He reckons that resolvin' these legal matters will help further their mission and provide some assurance for their stakeholders.
The lawyers representin' the health plans haven't had anythin' to say just yet, but in their filing, they did declare that the deal be "fair, reasonable, adequate and in the best interests" of the class.
Now, Suboxone, me hearties, was approved for sale in the fine land of the United States back in 2002. Indivior had the exclusive right to sell it in tablet form until 2009.
The health plans and drug wholesalers, ye see, claim in their lawsuits that Indivior be a sneaky bunch. They switched from sellin' the tablet version of Suboxone to an oral film version just when those crafty generic manufacturers were about to sell their own cheaper tablets. Those generic tablets got federal approval in 2013.
But that be not all, me hearties! In June, Indivior had to cough up a hefty sum of $102.5 million to settle claims made by 41 U.S. states and Washington, D.C. And if that weren't enough, in 2020, they surrendered a grand total of $600 million to settle allegations from the U.S. government. They be accused of fraudulently promotin' Suboxone, claimin' that the film version be safer and less likely to be abused compared to similar drugs.
Arrr, it be a grim reality, me hearties. Over 80,000 souls in the United States have met their demise in 2021 due to opioid overdoses, as declared by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.