Suit Alleges Drug Firms Bar Imports

A seniors group sued nine major pharmaceutical firms Wednesday, alleging the companies had conspired to keep U.S. medicine prices artificially high by blocking Canadian imports.

The suit by the Minnesota Senior Federation Metropolitan Region alleges that Pfizer, Glaxo- SmithKline, Abbott Laboratories, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, Merck, Novartis and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals acted in concert to block name-brand drugs to Canadian pharmacists that sell to U.S. citizens.

A spokeswoman for GlaxoSmithKline said the firm acted independently of the others, in an effort to preserve supplies of its drugs in Canada for that country.

Pfizer said its practices comply with U.S. law.

The other firms either did not respond or said they could not because they had not yet seen the lawsuit.