BOSTON – Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro and the San Francisco City Attorney together have filed an action on behalf of California government entities against McKesson Corporation for illegally conspiring to manipulate pharmaceutical drug prices dating back to at least 2001. The complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Boston details McKesson's scheme to artificially inflate the prices of more than four hundred brand-name prescription drugs, costing California taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars in excess payments for brand-name prescription drugs. 

San Francisco Health Plan (SFHP) is the named class representative in the lawsuit. SFHP is a California political subdivision that provides health care coverage, including brand-name prescription drugs, to over 50,000 uninsured San Francisco residents and 25% of San Francisco children and youths aged 0-18. SFHP seeks certification of a class comprised of government entities in the State of California for the period of August 1, 2001 to the present. 

The complaint, which alleges violations of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO), and the California Cartwright Act, False Claims Act and Unfair Competition Law, seeks unspecified damages, civil penalties and restitution as well as attorneys' costs and fees. 

This action is related to a class action lawsuit brought by HBSS on behalf of private payors of brand-name prescription drugs originally filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts in 2005. Federal District Court Judge Patti B. Saris certified the classes of private consumers and private third-party payors in March. As alleged in that action, however, those classes did not include governmental entities. 

The case is: San Francisco Health Plan and the People of the State of California v. McKesson Corp., United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, filed May 20, 2008. The related case is New England Carpenters Health Benefits Fund et al. vs. First DataBank Inc. and McKesson Corp., U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, Civil Action No. 05-11148, filed June 2, 2005. 

To view the filed complaint please click here. 

About Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro

Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, is based in Seattle with offices in Chicago, Cambridge, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco. Since 1993, it has developed a nationally recognized practice in class-action and complex litigation. Among recent successes, HBSS has negotiated a $300 million settlement in the DRAM memory antitrust litigation, one of the largest anti-trust settlements in history; a $340 million recovery on behalf of Enron employees; a $150 million settlement involving charges of illegally inflated charges for the drug Lupron, and served as co-counsel on the Visa/Mastercard litigation which resulted in a $3 billion settlement, the largest anti-trust settlement to date. HBSS served as counsel in a $850 million Washington Public Power Supply settlement and represented Washington and 12 other states against the tobacco industry that resulted in the largest settlement in history. For a complete listing of HBSS cases, visit www.hbsslaw.com.