California high court allows pharmacies’ antitrust lawsuit against drug companies over prices

Calif court OKs pharmacies’ suit against drug cos.

SAN FRANCISCO — The California Supreme Court has breathed new life into a massive antitrust lawsuit filed by pharmacies against 18 of the country’s largest drugmakers.

The pharmacies accuse the drugmakers of conspiring to artificially inflate prices by restricting importation of their drugs made overseas and stifling generic competition.

The state’s high court said unanimously Monday that the pharmacies can seek millions of dollars of damages even though they passed on the high prices to their customers.

The justices rejected rulings by two lower courts siding with the drugmakers’ argument that the pharmacies suffered little damage because they had passed on the price hikes.

The lawsuit was filed in Alameda County Superior Court last year by mostly independent pharmacies.