IMPORTANT DATES & DEADLINES |
| Request Exclusion: |
Must be postmarked by
February 19, 2007 |
Initial Trial Begins: |
April 30, 2007 at 9:00 a.m. |
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What is this Lawsuit About?
Plaintiffs allege that Defendant drug companies either reported the average wholesale price (“AWP”) of each drug they make to trade publications or provided those publications with information from which the publications calculate an AWP for each of Defendants’ drugs. The published AWP of a drug is used to set the price that consumers making Medicare Part B co-payments and Medicare will pay for the drug. The lawsuit claims that Medicare and consumers making Medicare Part B co-payments paid more than they should have paid for the Covered Drugs (See list below for a list of the Covered Drugs) because drug companies intentionally reported false and inflated AWPs concerning these drugs. For more about the Plaintiffs' claims click here. Defendants deny the allegations of the lawsuits. For more on what Defendants say about the suits click here.
The Court in charge of the lawsuit is the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The people who sued are called the Plaintiffs. The drug companies they sued are called the Defendants.
The lawsuit includes 42 Defendants. At this time, the Court has certified separate Classes of people who made Medicare Part B co-payments for Covered Drugs manufactured by the Defendants listed below. The trials for each Defendant will also take place in the order listed below:
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AstraZeneca (AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals L.P.),
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Bristol-Myers Squibb Group (which includes: Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.; Oncology Therapeutics Network Corp.; and Apothecon, Inc.), and
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Johnson & Johnson Group (which includes: Johnson & Johnson; Centocor, Inc.; and Ortho Biotech Products, L.P.).
The “Defendants” are these three companies: AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb Group, and the Johnson & Johnson Group.
Am I a Member of one or more of the Classes?
You’re a member of one or more of the Classes and part of this lawsuit if you are a resident of any state in the U.S. (except Alabama, Alaska, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana or Virginia), and between January 1, 1991 and January 1, 2005, you paid (or are currently obligated to pay) a co-payment under Medicare Part B for any of the Covered Drugs [see list below] that were manufactured and marketed by the Defendants. You are also a member of one or more of the Classes if you are an heir of someone who made such a co-payment under Medicare Part B for any of the Covered Drugs. The Classes and the drugs involved in each class are as follows:
Defendant Classes |
Subject Drug(s)
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AstraZeneca Class |
Zoladex (goserelin acetate)
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Bristol-Myers Squibb Class |
Blenoxane (bleomycin sulfate)
Cytoxan (cyclophosphamide)
Etopophos (etoposide phosphate)
Paraplatin (carboplatin)
Rubex (doxorubicin hcl)
Taxol (paclitaxel)
VePesid (etoposide)
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Johnson & Johnson Class |
Remicade (infliximab)
Procrit (epoetin alfa)
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You are not a member of any of the Classes if you resided in Alabama, Alaska, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana or Virginia at the time you made the Medicare Part B co-payment. The Court excluded persons residing in these states from the Classes because the consumer protection laws of those states don’t allow class actions.
You are also not part of one or more of the Classes if:
(a) You were fully reimbursed for the co-payment you made (for example, your MediGap or other private insurer reimbursed you the full amount); or
(b) Your co-payment was a flat amount instead of a percentage of the total charge (for example, your MediGap or other private insurer paid for all of the co-payment except for a flat amount such as $10 or $20 that you had to pay). If your co-payment is a set dollar amount and does not differ with the price of the drug, then your co-payment is a flat co-payment and not a percentage co-payment and you are not a member of one or more of the Classes.
