Attorneys general in 36 states filed suit Thursday against the makers of Suboxone, claiming the companies artificially inflated prices and prevented the creation of generic brands, according to a press release from Pennsylvania Attorney General Bruce Beemer. When its rights expired, the company worked with MonoSol Rx to make an oral strip form of the drug that they then marketed as safer than tablets, the complaint said.
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The state alleges manufacturers used deceptive marketing and price adjustments to encourage patients to use the strip rather than the tablet, which was later taken off the USA market.
“Opioid abuse is a public health crisis, and opioid-dependent patients should have access to the most affordable addiction treatment options available”, Schneiderman said. Suboxone has become a popular treatment to minimize withdrawal symptoms, with over $1 billion in sales each year, according to the suit.
MonoSol Rx Inc. was also sued for allegedly helping Indivior by licensing its patented sublingual film technology to the company.
“I am concerned about any barriers that make it more hard for people to access this potentially lifesaving drug and escape opioid dependence”, Swanson said in a statement released Thursday afternoon.
The attorney general contends that Indivior first attempted to thwart the entry of a generic version of its drug by introducing the film, which pharmacists would not be able to substitute a generic equivalent for. Once most customers had shifted to the film, Reckitt took the tablet off the market, according to the lawsuit. Instead, in September 2012, it requested the FDA withhold approval of the tablet version (which the company itself had marketed for 10 years) unless generic manufacturers could minimize the presumed pediatric exposure risks.
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Others joining the lawsuit are Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
