County to Receive $100,000 from Lipitor Settlement

Approval of a settlement involving the cholesterol drug Lipitor will bring $100,000 to Brooke County.
Attorney General J. B. McCuskey announced the distribution of $3.5 million Friday to cities and counties as part of a settlement agreement involving the drug. 
The settlement is from an antitrust lawsuit against Pfizer Inc. and Ranbaxy Inc.
The lawsuit alleged the two companies conspired to delay the introduction onto the market of a cheaper generic version of Lipitor for 20 months.
Lipitor’s original patent expired on March 24, 2010.
The Brooke County Commission will get $30,000, and awards to the cities will be as follows: Beech Bottom, $5,000; Follansbee, $15,000; Wellsburg, $15,000; Weirton, $25,000; West Liberty, $5,000; Windsor Heights, $5,000.
“This settlement is about holding pharmaceutical companies accountable for putting their bottom line before people,” McCuskey said.
“No drug company should withhold a less expensive medication to treat chronic conditions just to make their stakeholders richer. That is completely unacceptable, and this settlement is one step in the right direction.” 
The amount each city and county in the state will receive depends on the size of their population.
Counties are receiving a total of $1.63 million, while cities are receiving a total of $1.855 million
Counties and municipalities are receiving settlement funds specifically to reimburse healthcare costs incurred from purchasing name-brand Lipitor.
The Bureau for Medical Services and West Virginia Public Insurance Agency (PEIA) received $3,083,250 for Medicaid and PEIA overpayments. 
Additionally, individual consumers who took Lipitor from March 24, 2010,-Nov. 20, 2011, who paid higher prices due to the delayed introduction of the generic version are also eligible to submit a claim.
A total of $3,819,250 has been set aside for those claims.
The Attorney General’s office is currently establishing a dedicated claims process for those consumers to recover their overpayments.
Details regarding the consumer reimbursement process will be announced by the Attorney General’s Office soon.