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Suit alleges the pharmaceutical giants violated state consumer protection laws and federal and state antitrust laws by delaying availability of cheaper, generic versions through trickery or deception.

Florida and Massachusetts are among 26 other states that are joined in an antitrust lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies for allegedly blocking access to cheaper drugs, costing the states millions of dollars in .

The suit alleges that Illinois-based Abbott Laboratories and French drug companies Fournier Industrie et Sante and Laboratoires Fournier, S.A., violated state consumer protection laws and federal and state antitrust laws by delaying availability of cheaper, generic versions of TriCor, a cholesterol lowering drug that last year accounted for more than $1 billion of Abbott’s sales.

The states’ complaint seeks relief in the amount of three times the amount of overcharges paid by states and consumers for TriCor, plus costs and civil penalties.  The states are also seeking injunctive relief, prohibiting Abbott and Fournier from engaging in similar anticompetitive practices in the future.

The states allege in U.S. District Court in Wilmington that the companies continuously made minor changes in the formulation of TriCor to prevent cheaper generic versions from being marketed. The complaint seeks triple the amount of damages incurred by the states’ public health agencies and individual consumers.

Ed Silverman in his Pharmalot blog reports that Abbott spokeswoman Melissa Brotz told the Associated Press that the company’s actions were lawful, that Abbott hasn’t prevented the marketing of drugs similar to TriCor, and that there are eight other products already available. Neil Hirsch, a spokesman for Fournier’s parent Solvay, told the AP Fournier hasn’t engaged in any wrongdoing and intends to vigorously defend itself against the allegations.

But Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler said Abbott and Fournier obtained patents protecting TriCor from competition by deceiving the U.S. Patent Office with incomplete and misleading data. And Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum said Florida’s growing senior population faces ever increasing costs of prescription drugs, and the state “cannot permit drug companies to edge out competition and potentially less expensive generic alternatives.”

The states joining Massachusetts in the investigation and prosecution of this action against Abbott and Fournier are:  Florida, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia.

Big Pharma’s obsession with profits at any cost is threatening to destroy what was once the envy of the world—the United States medical system.

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