Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson and 19 other state attorneys general have filed a federal lawsuit accusing six drug makers of engaging in a price-fixing scheme.
"Play by the rules or you will be hearing from my team," said Ferguson on the heels of the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.
The drug makers are accused of raising the price of two generic drugs and limiting competition. The complaint describes the companies' behavior as "straightforward and sinister" and accuses the defendants of colluding over gatherings dubbed as "industry dinners," "girls' nights' out," and "lunches."
The two drugs in question are Doxycycline, an antibiotic, and Glyburide used to treat diabetes.
Prior to this lawsuit, in November, KING 5 reported on the questionable price hikes of both drugs: Doxycycline up 1670% since 2012; and Glyburide up 97%.
"They really can and do charge whatever they want," said Pharmacist Beverly Schaefer of Katterman's Sand Point Pharmacy, about the rising cost of generic drugs.
"Inexpensive generics are now expensive generics," Schaefer said.
The six companies named in the complaint are Heritage Pharmaceuticals, INC., described as the ringleader; Aurobindo Pharma USA, INC.; Citron Pharma, LLC; Mayne Pharma (USA), INC.; Mylan Pharmaceuticals, INC.; and Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, INC.
"It ticks me off. It ticks off everyone," Ferguson said. "You see a large corporation that is already making plenty of money, but to make more, they do it on the backs of, in this case, Washingtonians, who are sometimes living pay check to pay check," Ferguson said. "It is maddening, in many cases, that corporations continue to do that and that is why this case is so important."
The Department of Justice has also filed a separate criminal lawsuit against two former executives with Heritage also accusing them of engaging in an illegal price-fixing scheme.
A Heritage company spokesperson said the executives: Jeffrey Glazer, a former CEO; and Jason Malek, an ex-president; were terminated in August following an internal investigation, "that revealed a variety of serious misconduct by the individuals charged."
Heritage has now filed a civil lawsuit against Glazer and Malek.
"We are deeply disappointed by the misconduct and are committed to ensuring it does not happen again," a Heritage spokesperson wrote in a statement to KING 5.
Mylan and Teva also provided statements to KING 5.
"To date, we know of no evidence that Mylan participated in price fixing," wrote a Mylan spokesperson.
A Teva spokesperson wrote a similar statement: "To date, we have not found any evidence of price fixing within Teva and so on the facts we vigorously deny any allegations of wrongdoing."
Ferguson said he believes this lawsuit may be the "tip of the iceberg."
"We have an investigation going on," Ferguson said. "So, we will see where that leads. It is entirely possible that that investigation will lead to additional drugs."
Ferguson said the ultimate goal of the lawsuit is to stop the behavior and to strip these companies of any profits made from illegal activities and return the money to patients, in Washington and around the country, who paid inflated prices for these drugs.