In USA Case filed for increasing the price of life-saving medicine
A lawsuit has been filed against the owner of a life-saving pharmaceutical company in the US for suddenly raising the price of medicine several times. The case has been jointly filed by the Central Government of America and the Government of New York State. Martin Schreckley, owner of Vaira Pharmaceuticals is already in jail.
In 2015, 36-year-old Shkreli increased the price of a tablet of a drug used to treat infections in HIV and cancer patients from $ 13.50 to $ 750. After this, there was a lot of anger against Shkreli and his company. He was given the nickname “Pharma Bro” on social media and the US media declared him the most hated man in America.
After years of investigation, now the US Federal Trade Commission and New York Attorney General Leticia James has filed a lawsuit against Shkreli and his company. James said in a statement, “Martin Shkreli and Vieira raised the price of this life-saving drug by 4000 per cent in a single day, besides making a profit, keeping this important drug hostage away from patients and their competitors and Tried to maintain his monopoly illegally. “
James also said in the statement, “We filed this lawsuit to stop Vieira Pharmaceuticals’ bad behaviour, forcing it to pay the price for its illegal planning, and for Martin Shkreli from working in the pharmaceutical industry again Stop “.
This lawsuit is different from the one for which Shkreli was jailed. In 2017, he was sentenced to seven years in prison for fraud related to securities. Prosecutors said that between October 2009 and March 2014, they mismanaged the money in the two hedge funds run by them.
In the last two decades in the US, about 40 thousand people have been accused of causing the lives of opioids. Opioids are analgesics that contain drugs like heroin and are sold on prescription. Oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, morphine are similar drugs. The drug companies publicized these drugs a lot and did not inform the people about its disadvantages. As a result, many children and older people became addicted to these drugs and later they died due to overdose and sometimes other problems. Later, when information about medicines came out, people started filing tax cases one by one. Thousands of such cases have been filed all over America. The judges of a federal court in Ohio wanted the drug companies to accept the penalty before the trial began.
The trial, with Cuyahoga County in Cleveland and Summit County in Akron, was considered a tough test. The agreement was reached at midnight on Monday. Hours later, a jury was scheduled to begin trial in Cleveland’s federal court. Cuyahoga County lawyer Hünter Schkolnik said drug distribution companies Amersorsburg, Cardinal Health and Macson would pay the US $ 215 million jointly. In addition, Teva, an Israeli drugmaker, will pay $ 20 million in cash. With this, Suboxone will provide $ 25 million generic drugs. This drug is used in the treatment of people addicted to opioids. According to the agreement, the accused will not be forced to admit any wrongdoing in return.
There are still more than 2600 other prosecutions in the US in front of the drug companies related to that terrible accident. People associated with these lawsuits say that after the agreement of Ohio, they have got time to settle all the claims across the country. Now the pressure to make such an agreement can also increase because, after every incomplete agreement, companies will be reducing the money that they have to give to other litigants.
A large number of lawsuits have been filed by state and local governments, Native American tribes, hospitals, and others against pharmaceutical companies, suppliers and sellers of them. For two years, a judge in the federal court of Ohio had been pressurizing the parties to reach a larger agreement. On Monday, only one accused is left in the people who were hanging the sword to start the trial. That is the drugstore chain Walgreens. Walgreens and other pharmacies will now begin a trial within the next six months.
This agreement has saved both parties from the risk and uncertainty of the lawsuit. The counties have immediately secured the money that will be spent to deal with the crisis, on the other hand, the pharmaceutical companies have now survived the charges of wrongdoing and heavy jury convictions. Travis Bornstein was preparing diligently to testify in Cleveland’s trial. After the agreement, he says, “No amount can replace the damage and devastation that the families of our county or the entire country have suffered.” However, Travis says that this agreement will serve some people struggling.
Travis told that his son Taylor became addicted to opioids as a teenager after surgery on his arm. He died of a heroin overdose in 2014 after five years. Travis says that good treatment might have helped his son when he died, he was on the waiting list for treatment. In 2017, Ohio suffered the highest number of deaths after drug overdose due to drug overdose.
The three major drug distribution companies have said in their statement that the amount of the agreement should be spent on treatment, rehabilitation and mental health services. This agreement also means that the evidence collected for the trial will no longer be broadcast. The lawyers of the counties had made considerable preparations to present the evidence before the jury to indicate that there was a lot of information about the dangers of opioids.
Accusers against the pharmaceutical industry say that companies marketed opioids in a big way and during this period, they minimized its dangers. Not only this, the consignment of medicines was being sent on a large scale in a suspicious manner and everyone kept a blind eye on his behalf. However, companies refuse to make any mistake. Purdue Pharma, which makes Oxycontin, is considered the biggest villain in this case. Last month, she reached a possible agreement, which could cost up to $ 12 billion. However, more than half of the state and local governments opposed it.
Originally published at https://www.mubahisa.in.