an antitrust lawsuit accusing the drug company of forcing patients to switch to the newer version of the widely used medicine to hinder competition from generic manufacturers.
Were the drug company sending hit squads round to take out the doctors that were prescribing generics? Did they launch a tactical air strike on the generics factories? Hijack the lorries carrying the generics?
I'm sorry but, so far as I can tell, manufacturers are free to manufacture the generic, doctors are free to prescribe it and patients are free to take it. I don't see why Actavis should be forced to produce a drug they no longer want to produce and I don't see what this can possibly achieve because once the drug leaves patent protection the generics manufactures will be able to manufacture it regardless and, before then, patients will have to buy the pricier brand-name drug anyway.
I don't think the patent had actually expired yet on the older medicine. It was just getting close to expiring. Drug companies have figured out the 'new' way to keep you off of generics is to 'improve' the formula so that your doctor wants to keep you on the new one. I'm on Tribenzor, which is literally just a mix of three regular and cheap blood pressure medicines, but it's 'not generic' so I have to pay a much more expensive rate.
So yeah, this is just scum sucker scam way of maximizing profits at the cost of the patient and his insurance.