AstraZeneca loses appeal over drug wholesale price inflation lawsuit in Massachusetts

AstraZeneca loses price inflation lawsuit appeal

NEW YORK — An appeals court on Wednesday upheld a lower court’s ruling that AstraZeneca inflated the price of expensive drugs in Massachusetts.

The First Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals upheld a 2007 ruling by the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts. That ruling said AstraZeneca PLC and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. inflated the “average wholesale price” of drugs. The case had originally been filed in 2002, claiming AstraZeneca inflated the price of its cancer drug Zoladex.

London-based AstraZeneca was ordered to pay $12.9 million in damages in that original decision. New York-based Bristol-Myers was ordered to pay $695,594 in damages.

Plaintiffs in the case are seeking a national class-action lawsuit. AstraZeneca representatives could not be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.