Meijer is suing an Indian drug manufacturer it claims cost the Michigan-based retailer tens of millions of dollars. The exact figure won’t be known for some time.
Ranbaxy is already in trouble with the U.S. government for lying to the FDA, among other things. The FDA has banned the company from producing and selling drugs for the U.S. market.
In court documents, Meijer claims the company and its customers paid an artificially high price for two prescription drugs: blood pressure medicine Diovan and the antiviral Valcyte.
Release of the cheaper, generic versions of these drugs was delayed because Ranbaxy got the exclusive right to make them but didn’t deliver. That means distributors like Meijer, and their customers, had to pay more for the name brands for longer than they should have, according to the court documents.
