But why should we care how much drug manufacturers charge our health insurance companies.
Oh, wait. What health insurance?
Abbott faces more litigation over AIDS drug
Just because this is about an AIDS drug doesn't mean that it doesn't affect you!
Your Free Market at its finest!
No. We certainly don't need any kind of regulation on the market! It is, after all, self correcting.
Not!
Oh, wait. What health insurance?
Abbott faces more litigation over AIDS drug
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - When Abbott Laboratories Inc. hiked up the price of a popular AIDS drug by 400 percent in 2003, executives prepared for the inevitable public relations hit, but assured themselves the backlash would be brief.
Nearly five years later, the accusations against Abbott are still flying.
The North Chicago, Ill., drug company stands to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in several pending antitrust lawsuits. It settled only its first - and likely its cheapest one - last week.
The lawsuits, all filed in Oakland federal court, accuse Abbott of raising the price of the HIV-fighting Norvir to illegally stifle competition and boost sales of its own alternative, Kaletra. Embarrassing internal communications between executives plotting how to thwart their rivals in the lucrative HIV drug cocktail market have been made public in the process.
Executives acknowledged in 2003 internal memos that Abbott would appear as the "big, bad, greedy pharmaceutical company" if they implemented the Norvir price hike, according to court documents.
But the bruising to the company's public image then led to legal woes, with a barrage of lawsuits filed by patients, drug wholesalers and one competitor.
Just because this is about an AIDS drug doesn't mean that it doesn't affect you!
Your Free Market at its finest!
No. We certainly don't need any kind of regulation on the market! It is, after all, self correcting.
Not!
