ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) — Officials in Rockford in northern Illinois are suing in federal court a pharmaceutical company they say forced the city to pay $500,000 for a specialty drug by cornering the market and then dramatically increasing its cost.
The (Rockford) Register Star reports that Rockford seeks to recover what it calls “inflated drug payments” the city made for a drug to treat two infants.
In January, Mallinckrodt ARD Inc. agreed to pay $100 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that accused the company of illegally maintaining a monopoly on the drug Acthar that’s used to treat infants for a seizure disorder.
The FTC said the company — formerly known as Questcor Pharmaceuticals Inc. — acquired the U.S. rights to a competitor’s drug to monopolize the market and raised the price.