High Court Won't Hear Generic Drug Case

[Judi Lynn]

High Court Won't Hear Generic Drug Case
By ANDREW BRIDGES, Associated Press Writer

Monday, June 26, 2006

(06-26) 11:09 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) --

The Supreme Court refused Monday to hear an appeal of a drug patent case that antitrust officials hoped would speed access to cheaper generic versions of nearly a dozen popular medicines that now cost consumers more than $25 billion a year.

The Federal Trade Commission asked the high court to review a March 2005 decision by the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled that settlements reached in lawsuits filed by the pharmaceutical company Schering-Plough Corp. against two companies challenging its patent on a drug did not violate antitrust law.

The FTC maintains that the increasingly popular settlements allow brand-name pharmaceutical companies to pay off generic drug manufacturers in exchange for delays in the introduction of lower-priced but otherwise identical versions of medicines.

The appeal pitted the FTC against the Justice Department, the other antitrust authority charged with reviewing the settlements. The Solicitor General urged the Supreme Court not to take the FTC's case, saying it didn't represent the proper opportunity to decide whether the settlements minimize unnecessary litigation or improperly restrain trade.
(snip/...)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/06/26/national/w110930D12.DTL&type=politics

[MADem]

1. Well, that's because TODAY'S MEDICINES

FINANCE TOMORROW'S MIRACLES.....

Do I actually need to drag out that :sarcasm: thing?

Wouldn't it be nice if we spent our war dough on the war against diseases and illnesses?

[Lars39]

4. We must have seen the same commercial.

I didn't use to yell at the tv.

[MADem]

5. So, I wasn't the only one hollering "HORSESHIT!" at the tube! n.t.

[leftchick]

2. profits first!

<snip>

The Supreme Court decision not to hear the appeal could affect the outcome of litigation involving generic manufacturers seeking to introduce their own versions of the cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor, blood-thinner Plavix, arthritis treatment Celebrex, heartburn medication Protonix and seven other of the 20 top-selling, brand-name drugs in the United States, according to the FTC.

[Telly Savalas]

3. The members of the Supreme Court should chip in...

and buy a pool table for the FTC. If our esteemed judiciary isn't going to let the FTC do their jobs, then it becomes their responsibility to help keep the FTC occupied.