Humana sues 37 generic drugmakers: 3 things to know

Humana filed a lawsuit Oct. 18 accusing 37 pharmaceutical companies of partaking in a conspiracy to increase generic drug prices, according to Louisville Business First.

1. The 610-page lawsuit accuses drugmakers of overpricing drugs prescribed to Humana's members. The lawsuit claims the drugmakers "conspired to manipulate the relevant markets, allocate these markets amongst themselves, and obstruct generic competition in an ongoing scheme to fix, increase, stabilize, and/or maintain the price of" specific drugs, according to the publication.

2. Humana cited one example of an alleged 2,762 percent increase in price for Nadolol, a heart medication. The insurer also accused drugmakers of increasing the price of doxazosin mesylate, used to treat enlarged prostates and high blood pressure, by 1,053 percent, according to the report.

3. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, comes more than a year after Humana made similar claims in a separate lawsuit. In August 2019, Humana filed a lawsuit against Mallinckrodt, alleging the drugmaker increased the price for its anti-inflammatory drug Acthar Gel by more than 97,500 percent.

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