AG Myers A National Leader in Fight
Against Drug Company Lawbreaking

Myers has helped recover more than
one billion dollars from pharmaceutical companies

Portland— Attorney General Hardy Myers announced today that his office has participated in the recovery of over one billion dollars in restitution and fines from pharmaceutical companies engaged in deceptive marketing and anticompetitive conduct.

Myers has received national attention for his leadership in litigation with pharmaceutical companies, including appointment to the chairmanship of the consumer protection committee of the National Association of Attorneys General and a recent interview on a national radio news program (to hear the story, click here).

“I have worked hard to keep pharmaceutical companies in check, because consumers should not have to bear inflated prescription drug prices as a result of illegal market practices,” Myers said. “It appears that drug companies have made a calculated decision to increase their market share by ignoring the law. I want to send a clear message that breaking the law will not be profitable.”

In the month of August, Myers announced two major drug company settlements. The first was with pharmaceutical manufacturer Schering Plough to pay $281.5 million in damages and penalties to the State Medicaid Programs from Schering’s underpayment of Medicaid Drug Rebates on its blockbuster antihistamine drug Claritin. The second settlement was with the Perrigo Company of Allegan, Michigan and Alpharma, Inc. of Fort Lee, New Jersey for alleged antitrust violations that resulted in the destruction of competition in the market for over-the-counter generic, store-brand versions of liquid suspension Children’s Motrin.

In July, Myers announced that Oregonians who had taken the anti-anxiety drug BuSpar would receive nearly half a million dollars pursuant to a 2003 settlement with pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squib. BMS allegedly engaged in fraudulent conduct and conspired with a potential competitor to prevent the entry of generic competitors and made false statements to a federal agency concerning its new patent of BuSpar in order to prevent manufacturers of generic drugs from marketing it.