June 26, 2006 -- Supreme Court Will Not Hear Generic Meds Case

The United States Supreme Court announced today that it will not consider an appeal by the Federal Trade Commission for review of a case involving payments by major pharmaceutical companies to keep generic versions of certain drugs off the market after the patents on those drugs expire. That leaves in place a federal appeals court ruling in favor of the Schering-Plough pharmaceutical company, which had been accused of paying competitors to delay marketing generic versions of a highly profitable blood pressure medicine. By law, drug makers are granted a period of patent protection for new medicines, during which time no competing generic drugs can be marketed. The Federal Trade Commission charged that increasingly pharmaceutical companies are entering into agreements with generics manufacturers that involve payments in return for promises to hold off bringing the generics to market. Generic drugs are typically cheaper for consumers to buy.