| You saw the title and thought this was a post on whether marijuana should be legalized, didn't you? Sorry. If you are uninsured, or underinsured, and paid for your own prescriptions between August 2001 and 23 January of this year, or if you have percentage-based co-pays and bought prescription drugs between August 2001 and March 2005, you may qualify for a piece of the settlement from the New England Carpenters Health Benefits Fund, et al. v. First DataBank, Inc. and McKesson Corporation lawsuit. (Note: you are not part of the settlement if you pay a flat fee for your part of the prescriptions.) This is a federal class action suit which contended that two drug price publisher, and a major distributor, who illegally colluded to inflate drug prices. There are two parts to the settlement, including $350 million which has preliminary court approval, to return monies to patients, employers and patients. Don't get too excited because off the top, the lawyers have requested $84 million in fees, and the settlement is being appealed by pharmacies and pharmacy benefit managers, who stand to lose big if it goes through. In addition to the payouts, drug prices for the pharmaceuticals on the list (and there are hundreds of them) will need to be cut 4%. Not a big deal if you're taking something that costs $10/month, but real money for some drugs that cost thousands of dollars per prescription. You can see the drug list here. If you qualify, and if you have good records, you'll be able to claim your reimbursement. You will need to file by 9 July 2009. You can read the background on the case here. |
