Drug Firms Stave Off Generics, Costing Consumers Billions, Critics Say

 
By Andrew Thompson

While sharp overnight increases in the cost of prescription drugs have recently dominated headlines, critics say another pharmaceutical industry practice that has added billions of dollars to the price that consumers pay for their medicines continues unabated.

Known as "reverse settlement payments," or "pay-to-delay" deals, the financial arrangements are a unique but common practice in the pharmaceutical industry. Essentially, they allow drug manufacturers in some instances to pay competitors not to manufacture generic versions of their products, thereby ensuring that they maintain patent protection for as long as possible.

While recent steep increases in the price of prescription drugs after their production rights were acquired by new manufacturers were met with howls of outrage, critics say that reverse settlements have drawn little scrutiny. 

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Source: NBC News