States seek to expand lawsuit against generic drug-makers

Connecticut's attorney general and 45 of his colleagues are seeking to expand a federal antitrust lawsuit against generic drug-makers to include more manufacturers and medications, as well as senior executives at two companies.

Led by Connecticut, the states sought a federal court's permission Tuesday to widen their complaint, which alleges a number of illegal agreements among 18 manufacturers to fix prices and divvy up the market for specific generic drugs.

The original lawsuit filed last year claimed six drug-makers artificially inflated and manipulated prices for two drugs. At the time, Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen said "it was just the tip of the iceberg."

Jepsen says the alleged collusion is "so pervasive that it essentially eliminated competition from the market" for 15 generic drugs.