8 recent legal actions involving pharmacists, drugmakers

Below are eight legal actions involving members of the drug supply chain, including pharmacists, drugmakers and others, reported by Becker's Hospital Review since August:

1. AstraZeneca loses lawsuit accusing it of monopolizing antipsychotic drug
   A Dutch payer has won a lawsuit accusing AstraZeneca of creating an unfair monopoly on an antipsychotic drug by using a patent that had been invalidated to block generic competition.
   
   
2. Mississippi pharmacy owners charged in $18M healthcare fraud scheme
   Two Mississippi pharmacy owners have been accused of paying and receiving kickbacks and other bribes in exchange for promoting expensive compounded drugs and dispensing them to people who didn't need them in an $18 million healthcare fraud scheme.
   
   
3. Drugmakers, PBMs must jointly face insulin price-fixing lawsuit, judge rules
   A lawsuit accusing several drugmakers and pharmacy benefit managers of conspiring to fix prices for insulin can proceed, a Texas judge ruled, marking the first time drugmakers and PBMs will have to collectively defend their role in the rising price of insulin.
   
   
4. Gilead settles kickback allegations for $97M
   Gilead agreed to pay a $97 million settlement for allegations it used a charity to pay illegal kickbacks to Medicare patients to cover copays for its high blood pressure drug Letairis.
   
   
5. West Virginia pharmacist faces prison for wire fraud, money laundering
   West Virginia pharmacist Natalie Cochran, PharmD, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, U.S. Attorney Mike Stuart announced.
   
   
6. 3 former pharmacy execs indicted in $50M healthcare fraud scheme
   Three former executives of a Louisiana compounding pharmacy were indicted in a $50 million scheme to defraud New Jersey and military health benefits programs.
   
   
7. Novartis, Roche fined $528M for anti-competition scheme in France
   Novartis and Roche have been fined a collective $528 million by France’s anti-trust regulator for allegedly conspiring to promote the expensive eye disease treatment Lucentis over a less pricey drug.
   
   
8. US sues Teva for 2nd time in 1 week, this time in alleged price-fixing scheme
   The U.S. on Aug. 25 charged Teva Pharmaceuticals with conspiring with other generic drugmakers to increase prices for the drugs they manufacture.