Suits Claim Companies Blocked Generic Drug

A coalition of consumer groups filed six lawsuits against Schering-Plough Corp. and two other drug makers, alleging that they conspired to block the launch of cheaper generic versions of Schering-Plough’s potassium supplement K-Dur20.

The lawsuits, filed as class actions in state and federal courts by the Prescription Access Litigation project, allege that consumers have been paying “artificially inflated prices” for K-Dur20 for more than three years.

The group said in a statement that Schering-Plough paid privately held Upsher-Smith and ESI Lederle, a unit of American Home Products Corp., more than $80 million to delay their generic forms of K-Dur20.

The Prescription Access Litigation project has already filed lawsuits this year alleging that major drug makers blocked the launch of cheaper generic versions of anti-anxiety drug BuSpar and breast cancer drug Tamoxifen.

The Federal Trade Commission has already filed a complaint about the K-Dur20 delay.

Schering-Plough and Upsher-Smith said they would fight the FTC charges and class-action lawsuits. Spokesman William O’Donnell said the pacts were legal and facilitated the launch of generic versions of K-Dur20 before Schering-Plough’s patent expires in 2006.