Pharmaceutical & Medical Device Law Bulletin

Recent rulings of importance to you and your practice.

The U.S. Supreme Court held on June 14 that the Sherman Anti-Trust and Clayton Acts cannot be invoked by foreign individuals or entities to redress injuries suffered due to anti-competitive conduct when the price-fixing conduct complained of adversely affects customers inside and outside the United States, but the adverse foreign effect is independent of any adverse domestic effect.

Widespread use of the Internet is barely a decade old, and already its use and abuse have increased dramatically. While the Web provides companies with new outlets for their products, it also provides a larger outlet for rogue entities to harm the consumer and damage manufacturers' reputations. Indeed, the Internet has created an opportunity for a whole new class of fraudulent activity, with rampant identity theft the best known. In the context of drug outlets, if a purchaser buys his or her prescription from a "rogue" pharmaceutical site, that consumer may be buying expired, substandard, contaminated, counterfeited and, in some cases, unsafe products. The lack of medical oversight, which can result in administration of incorrect dosages, wrong or contra-indicated drugs, or medication without adequate directions for use are among the concerns to be addressed as we enter this new world of Internet pharmacies. Part One of a Two-Part Article.

Given the central role of computer technology in our personal and professional lives, discovery requests for electronically stored information have become commonplace. The costs associated with discovery frequently escalate when the information sought is stored electronically, because retrieval is often more complicated and nuanced than the production of hard copies of documents. Not surprisingly, the disclosure and production of electronically stored information is often the subject of discovery disputes.

The latest Agency news you need to know.

On April 26, State Attorneys General from 20 states announced the settlement of claims under state deceptive trade practices laws against Medco Health Solutions, Inc. (Medco), for drug switching practices. The multi-state investigation began 2 years ago in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.

News from the agency that you need to know.

The City of New York filed three lawsuits in May against drug manufacturers it claims overcharged it for pharmaceuticals. The suits, brought in three district courts, claim that GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Purdue Pharma L.P. kept prices artificially high on pain reliever OxyContin', antidepressant Paxil', and antibiotic Augmentin' by using false and misleading methods to extend their drugs' patents.