Cost of Doing Business?
According to a press release, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey granted preliminary approval for a settlement in a class-action lawsuit involving two prescription drugs. The lawsuit claims that the drug manufacturers violated consumer protection laws by marketing the two drugs as “being more effective than other anti-cholesterol drugs and selling them at higher prices when, in fact, they were not more effective.” While the drug companies deny any wrongdoing, they are still shelling out $41.5 million to benefit consumers and insurance companies or other entities that paid for or provided reimbursement for the drugs.
One has to wonder why, if the drug companies knew that the drugs were no more effective than the generic equivalents, they were willing to market them as more effective. Could the potential dollar amount of this settlement have been factored in at the beginning of the errant marketing campaign as just another cost of doing business?