In the Spotlight

A settlement in principle has been reached between the FTC and giant drug manufacturer Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (whose total domestic net sales last year exceeded $13 billion). On March 7, 2003, the FTC announced the settlement. It resolves allegations filed by the FTC (In the Matter of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company) that the company violated federal antitrust laws and abused FDA's regulatory process in preventing generic drug manufacturers from competing against three of its widely prescribed products ' Taxol ' (paclitaxel) and Platinol (anti-cancer drugs), and BuSpar' (an anti-anxiety drug). The result of Bristol-Myers' conduct, according to the government, was that consumers were forced to pay hundreds of millions more than they needed to had generic products been available.