VENEZUELA: Llegó la cupón_manía...ahora que en USA la cuestionan. / FARMAHORRO

Encarte insertado como cuadernillo en prensa dominical (Caracas /Venezuela)

Affiliates of a consumer group sued eight drugmakers including Pfizer Inc. , Abbott Laboratories and GlaxoSmithKline Plc , accusing the companies of illegally offering coupons to reduce copayments for brand name drugs.

Affiliates of Boston-based Community Catalyst contend that cutting co-pays for the drugs destroys the incentive to use cheaper generic drugs, in a suit filed today in federal court in Newark, New Jersey, against Merck & Co. Identical cases were filed in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago.

“A recent study estimated that these kickbacks will increase health benefit providers’ prescription drug costs by $32 billion over the next 10 years,” plaintiffs’ lawyer Lisa J. Rodriguez of Haddonfield, New Jersey, said in one complaint.

Also sued were Amgen Inc. , AstraZeneca Plc , Bristol-Meyers Squibb Co. and Novartis AG.

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