HEALTH

Vons Cos. Joins Lawsuit Against Drug Firms: The Arcadia-based company and three other major grocery chain operators have filed suit in Cincinnati federal court, charging 16 large pharmaceutical firms with discriminatory pricing. The suit--a joint filing that also includes Oakland-based Safeway Inc., Boise, Ida.-based Albertson’s Inc. and Cincinnati-based Kroger Co.--said the drug manufacturers engage in two-tier discriminatory pricing. It claims the companies charge their supermarket pharmacies more for drugs than they charge health maintenance organizations, mail-order prescription companies or institutional pharmacies.