Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Ramps Up Request for Treble Damages in Mylan Antitrust Case

Competition Law 360, reported this week that the firm's client Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts filed new documents providing additional information that further supports BCBS Massachusetts' 2005 post-trial motion for individual treble damages against Mylan Laboratories and two other co-defendants.
 
In 2005, a federal jury found that Mylan, Gyma Laboratories  and Cambrex Corporation violated state antitrust laws by entering into exclusive agreements with active pharmaceutical ingredient suppliers that constrained supply and allowed Mylan to artificially inflate prices for two of Mylan's anti-anxiety drugs lorazepam and clorazepate. Damages in excess of $12 million were awarded to BCBS Massachusetts and three other health plans. The post trial motion for treble damages was based on the jury's finding that the antitrust violations were willful.
  
In the newly submitted filing, BCBS of Massachusetts renews its request for treble damages and contends that a separate malpractice suit Mylan brought against its former antitrust counsel provides crucial information that further supports a treble damage award against each of the three defendants individually.