Arizona v. Arizona Hospital and Healthcrae Association
Arizona and USDOJ alleged that hospital trade association fixed the price of nursing services from temporary nursing agencies as participaitng hospitals, which comprised 80 percent of hospital beds in Phoenix and Tucson. Inunctive relief prohibiting conduct and implementing compliance program.
State of Colorado et al v. Warner Chilcott, 1:05-cv-02182 (D.D.C.2005)
34 states filed suit alleging that Warner Chilcott entered into an illegal agreement with Barr Pharmaceuticals to raise the prices of Ovcon, an oral contraceptive. The lawsuit alleged that after Barr Pharmaceuticals publicly announced that it planned to have a generic version of Ovcon on the market by the end of the year, Warner Chilcott paid Barr Pharmaceuticals $1 million for an agreement designed to prevent Barr’s generic product from coming to market. Under the terms of the alleged agreement, once Barr received FDA approval to market generic Ovcon, Warner Chilcott had 90 days to pay Barr $19 million, after which Barr would refuse to bring the cheaper generic version to the market. The lawsuit alleged that as a result of the agreement, Warner Chilcott paid Barr a total of $20 million to keep it from marketing its generic version of Ovcon. In additon to a payment of $5.5 million, the settlement prohibits Warner Chilcott, for ten years, from entering into any agreement that would have the effect of limiting the research, development, manufacture, or sale of a generic alternative to one of its drugs. Furthermore, Warner Chilcott must provide the states notice of certain agreements it has entered into with generic manufacturers, and must continue to make its records available to the states for inspection to determine whether the company is complying with the terms of the agreement.
Pennsylvania v. University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (W.D. Pa)
State entered into a consent decree with University of Pittsburgh Medical Center to remedy anticompetitive concerns with acquisition of Mercy Medical Systems in Western Pennsylvania.
Maryland v. Rite-Aid Corp.
Rite Aid sought to acquire the assets of Canadian company Jean Coutu, which owned the Eckerd and Brooks retail pharmacy chains. Parties agreed to divest 26 stores in seven states.
Pennsylvania v. ACE Limited
Plaintiff state reached a settlement with ACE Limited in connection with ACE’s involvement with other insurers and brokers in a scheme to rig bids for excess casualty insurance. These illegal business practices occurred between 2000 and early 2004. In addition to the bid-rigging tactics, ACE also paid “contingent commissions,” which are payments that insurers pay to brokers and agents in addition to their base commissions. In exchange for the “contingent commissions,” brokers agreed to steer policies for excess casualty to ACE and increased premiums on existing policies. The agreement requires ACE to reform its business practices. Ace will now disclose to any client, who asks how much it is paying in compensation to a broker or non-exclusive agent on that client’s insurance business and will etablish a toll-free telephone number that policyholders can request disclosure of compensation information.
Connecticut v. Haggett
Plaintiff state filed suit alleging industry-wide illegal bid rigging by companies and individuals in the heating, ventilation and airconditioning (HVAC) business over the course of several years. Some defendants have settled for $160,000 in civil penalties
Connecticut v. B-G Mechanical Services
State settled allegations of bid-rigging in the market for HVAC services for municipal and private business customers.
Florida v. Ryan E. Phillips et al., Case No. 2006-CA-1986-C, Okaloosa Cty. Cir. Ct.
Florida settled allegations of price fixing in northwestern part of the state after price-gouging investigation revealed that gasoline station owner who sold station conditioned the sale on new owner matching prices as original owners station.
Illinois v. Acordia (Cook County Circuit Court)
State alleged that insurance companies were paying kickbacks to Acordia, an insurance broker, for steering business to the insurer.
California v. Infineon Technologies, No. 3:06-cv-04333 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 7, 2007)
33 Plaintiff States generally alleged a horizontal price-fixing conspiracy in the U.S.
market for dynamic random access memory (“DRAM”), carried out by numerous manufacturer defendants. Samsung an
another company, Winbond, reached settlement for $113 million in 2007.. States and private parties settled with the remaining defendants for $173 million and injunctive relief.