Class Settlement Could Result in Considerable Savings for Certain Consumers of Prescription Pharm...( BOSTON Sept. 19 -- The United St...),Health

BOSTON, Sept. 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts has granted preliminary approval of two Proposed Settlements on behalf of a class of people and entities that purchased certain prescription drugs. Plaintiffs filed the lawsuits, New England Carpenters Health Benefits Fund v. First DataBank, Inc., No. 1:05-CV-11148-PBS and D.C. 37 Health & Security Plan v. Medi-Span, No. 07-cv-10988-PBS, concerning how the published price of drugs are determined, what consumers pay for the drugs and what third party payors reimburse for them.

First DataBank, Inc., ("FDB") and Medi-Span publish data related to the prices of prescription drugs in their printed and electronic databases. The data includes the Average Wholesale Price ("AWP") of each drug. Pharmaceutical manufacturers report certain prices to FDB and Medi-Span. FDB then marked-up these prices to get the AWP reported in their publications and databases. From December 2001 into April 2004, Medi-Span published Average Wholesale Prices that it obtained from FDB. Subsequently, Medi-Span independently published certain AWP information in its publications and databases. Third-party payors and pharmacies may use the AWP as a benchmark in determining the amount of reimbursement for drugs or the cost of drugs to certain consumers.

One of the lawsuits alleges that FDB and McKesson Corporation wrongfully inflated the mark-up used to determine the AWP. The other lawsuit claims that Medi-Span negligently published inflated prescription drug prices. As a result, the two lawsuits claim that insurers, Third-Party Payors ("TPPs") and some consumers paid more for certain drugs than they should have.

"Although the Proposed Settlements do not provide money to consumers right now, they will likely allow certain consumers to save millions of dollars in future prescription drug costs," said Jeffrey Kodroff of Spector Roseman & Kodroff P.C. and Thomas M. Sobol
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