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BOSTON,
January 26, 2005 – Massachusetts consumers of the heartburn
medication Nexium today filed a statewide class action lawsuit in
Massachusetts Superior Court against the drug's distributor,
AstraZeneca. The suit alleges that the pharmaceutical company sought
to preserve their market share and profits as the patent on their
blockbuster drug, Prilosec®, was set to expire, by initiating a
massive and misleading advertising and promotional campaign to
deceive consumers into purchasing Nexium, a nearly identical new
drug.
Prilosec (also known as Losec) is a proton-pump
inhibitor (PPI) primarily used to treat Gastroesophageal Reflux
Disease (GERD) and was AstraZeneca's most profitable drug. By 2000,
Prilosec was the most prescribed drug in the world, with annual
global sales reaching $6 billion. But with Prilosec's patent set to
expire in 2001, its loss of brand name protection and assured
competition from generic drug manufacturers posed a financial
vulnerability to the pharmaceutical company.
The
lawsuit alleges that AstraZeneca responded to this financial threat
by launching a massive advertising campaign to overshadow the
perceived effectiveness of Prilosec, and persuade consumers that
Nexium was a new and improved PPI.
The
suit is brought by Health Care For All, Commonwealth Care Alliance,
and individual consumers, on behalf of Massachusetts residents who
purchased Nexium. Both organizations are members of the Prescription
Access Litigation Project (PAL), a national coalition of over 100
consumer organizations dedicated to fighting illegal pharmaceutical
price inflation through class-action lawsuits.
The
lawsuit claims that AstraZeneca is violating the Massachusetts
Consumer Protection Act, Chapter 93A. That law prohibits “unfair
methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices”
by businesses. The lawsuit alleges that by deceiving the public
about the value and effectiveness of Nexium through a multi-million
advertising campaign, AstraZeneca has illegally deceived
Massachusetts consumers and caused them to pay a premium price for
Nexium as a result of that advertising.
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