Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Another Reason Why Drug Prices Are So High

From the LVRJ: Teva Pharmaceutical Industries will pay more than a quarter-billion dollars to settle close to 200 lawsuits stemming from Southern Nevada's hepatitis C outbreak.
The international generic drug-making giant reached an agreement late last week to settle with 41 plaintiffs represented by lawyers Robert Eglet and Will Kemp, who were in the middle of their third trial against Teva.
"It's been resolved," Kemp said.
The agreement was reached after several long days of talks under the direction of Chief District Judge Jennifer Togliatti.
Teva had previously settled about 120 cases, including those being handled by lawyers Ed Bernstein and Gerald Gillock.
The company had paid or set aside about $270 million to cover the lawsuits filed in Nevada, according to a Friday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company will pay another $15 million this financial quarter, Teva USA spokeswoman Denise Bradley said in an email.
http://www.lvrj.com/news/propofol-maker-teva-to-pay-250-million-to-settle-nevada-lawsuits-139856843.html
This is just a legal shakedown orchestrated by an ambulance chasing lawyer, a jury who wanted their 15 minutes of fame and bubble headed blonde bimbo juge in Clark County, nothing more, nothing less.
The drug company did nothing wrong- they made a legal product and sold it to a doctor who, with his assistants, violated the basic rules of giving drugs, by using syringes more than 1 time and double dipping the syringes into the same bottle of drugs.
The sad truth is that Propfel is no longer being used, in part because of this scandal and now the drug customers who use drugs from Teva are going to have to pay more for their medicine because of this award.
Meanwhile the doctor behind this scandal, Dr. Desai, is doing everything in his power not to go to trial and has paid little if anything to the plaintiffs in this case. 
Justice in Las Vegas.

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