Europe’s second-largest drugmaker AstraZeneca is being sued by a coalition of consumer activists who claim its blockbuster heartburn drug, Nexium, the Purple Pill, is no more effective than its over-the-counter drug Prilosec.
The coalition on Monday filed a class action lawsuit against AstraZeneca, alleging that the company sought to reserve its market share and profits as the patent on Prilosec was set to expire, by initiating a massive and misleading advertising and promotional campaign to deceive consumers into purchasing Nexium, a nearly identical new drug.
The suit, filed in U.S. Superior Court in Los Angeles by the American Federation of Labor – Congress of Industrial Organizations, the Congress of California Seniors, and the California Alliance for Retired Americans, claims that AstraZeneca is violating California’s Unfair Competition Law and False Advertising Law by engaging in deceptive and unfair practices in the marketing and promotion of Nexium.
“AstraZeneca knew that with the expiration of their Prilosec patent, they would lose market share and profits,” Steve Berman, lead attorney for the plaintiffs, said. “We intend to show that they initiated a plan to deceive consumers and recoup those lost revenues.”
The class action was brought on behalf of all consumers nationwide who purchased Nexium.
“AstraZeneca pulled a massive ‘bait and switch’ on the American public,” Nan Brasmer, President of the California Alliance for Retired Americans, said. “Rather than looking for new drugs that would be real improvements for patients, they poured millions of dollars into promoting a drug that was far more expensive but no better than equally effective generic drugs.”
Prilosec (also known as Losec) is a proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) used to treat heartburn and was AstraZeneca’s most profitable drug. By 2000, Prilosec was the most prescribed drug in the world, with global sales reaching $6 billion. But with Prilosec’s patent set to expire in 2001, its loss of brand name protection and assured competition from generic drug manufacturers posed a financial vulnerability to the pharmaceutical company, attorneys for the plaintiffs contend.
According to the suit, AstraZeneca responded to this financial threat by launching a massive advertising campaign to overshadow the perceived effectiveness of Prilosec, and persuade consumers that Nexium was a new and improved PPI. The ads claimed that Nexium was proven more effective at acid inhibition than comparable drugs, the suit states. However, the clinical trials alluded to in these ads only compared Nexium at dosage levels twice those of Prilosec (40 mg to 20 mg respectively). No tests were done to compare 40 mg of Nexium to 40 mg of Prilosec.
“Our case will show that AstraZeneca needed to manipulate consumers into believing that Nexium was better than Prilosec, so they loaded the dice to validate their claims,” said Steve Berman. “The evidence will show that the drug company knew that comparing the two drugs at equal dosages would show that Nexium did not work better than Prilosec, so they conveniently left that information out.”
As detailed in the complaint, Nexium is a “mirror compound” of Prilosec, containing the same active molecule found in Prilosec.
“What AstraZeneca did with Nexium is symptomatic of the drug industry in the United States today,” said Gary Passmore, a spokesman for the Congress of California Seniors. “They are more concerned with profits than with health. But the public is waking up, and we will fight to hold drug companies accountable when they illegally deceive consumers.”
Nexium sales in 2003 were $3.3 billion.
(via PR Newswire)
{ 6 comments }
needing class action lawsuit against nexium.Have taken this product for over a year. can you help !!
I am happy it is not OTC, now my healthcare covers it. Do you think people can afford 12 a week on prilosec. That is ridiculas. If you want to do something for the consumer cut the price on the otc. Don’t make our healthcare covered medication OTC, and you will have happy people. I personally will probally have to take Nexium for the rest of my life and I love it.
I have a bad case of acid reflux.I tried Nexium and Prilosec.After 2 comparison of both drugs,I definitely know that Nexium works 200% better for me than Prilosec! If not for Nexium,I would not be able to function.
i suffer YEARS with heartburn then I ASK the doctor for an antibiotic and she gave me the nexium the 2 together for I think 2 weeks made me a whole NEW person. must have the antibiotic I didnt have a ulcer but it really worked for me!!!!!!!!!!!
When are the american people going to wake up..these Drug companies are giving it to you up the ass and don’t even have decency to use some vaseline..Prilosec and Nexium are the same..Their Patent rsn out…s drug company cannot make money on a drug if there is no prescription from a Dr. That’s why Nexium was born..New drug, New Patent, new prescription, lots of money..HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Drug companies are not about helping people..they are about helping themselves..PERIOD….
I was put on this drug when all others failed, and it too failed…but what we didn’t know til Astra decided to tell us is that it blocks calcium absorption, it says in seniors but how does a pill know how old the taker is..and it sucked the calcium from my body.. and my daughters, it took it from our teeth and our teeth are irrepairable damage to the tune of 10,s of thousands of dollars. I need a lawyer to help me sue them because we cannot afford to fix our own teeth even with dental insurance because of how much damage has been done. How would u like to be 21 with half your teeth falling out and breaking at the gum because there is no calcium and it cannot be replaced.
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