Consumers look to salvage suit over Big Pharma price-fixing scheme

A Seventh Circuit panel heard arguments Wednesday on whether consumers can revive a class action accusing AbbVie of inflating Humira's price through undisclosed rebates to pharmacy benefit managers and coordinated 'shadow pricing' with rival Amgen. A lower court dismissed the suit in January as mere griping about high prices.

Plaintiffs' attorney Steve Berman argued AbbVie published an artificially high list price, then paid PBMs to favor Humira, while Amgen's Enbrel pricing committee documents allegedly show it explicitly followed AbbVie's increases. AbbVie's attorney countered that consumers weren't injured because relief programs existed, and that consumer protection law is the wrong tool for a pricing dispute.

Judges pressed both sides on what conduct, exactly, was unfair to consumers themselves rather than just expensive, with Judge St. Eve noting a House Oversight report cited by plaintiffs was too broad to establish specific public policy. The panel took the case under advisement without a ruling timeline.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.