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RPWB Appointed Co-Lead Counsel for Plaintiffs in Inflated Drug Price Litigation

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Richardson, Patrick, Westbrook & Brickman, LLC (RPWB) Member James L. Ward, Jr., announces that the firm has been appointed Co-Lead Counsel on behalf of a variety of state and local government entities in class action litigation against McKesson Corporation. The Honorable Patti B. Saris of the United States District Court in Boston, Massachusetts appointed RPWB as Co-Lead Plaintiffs’ Counsel with Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP in a suit that alleges drug wholesaler McKesson conspired to inflate the average wholesale price (AWP) of hundreds of brand-name prescription drugs. RPWB as Co-Lead Counsel will oversee and coordinate all aspects of the case for the plaintiffs. The named plaintiffs are the State of Oklahoma; the State of Montana; the Board of County Commissioners of Douglas County, Kansas; the City of Baltimore, Maryland; the City of Panama City, Florida; Anoka County, Minnesota; the City of Columbia, South Carolina; and the City of Goldsboro, North Carolina. Pharmacies are reimbursed by many state and local government prescription drug plans based on the AWP of each drug as published by First DataBank, Inc. The suit alleges that McKesson and First DataBank inflated the AWPs of hundreds of brand-name drugs, which resulted in government entities being overcharged by hundreds of millions of dollars in excessive drug reimbursements from 2001 to present. Co-Lead Counsel will be assisted by a Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee comprised of McCulley McCluer PLLC and Kotchen & Low LLP.

PRESS RELEASE
DATE: 3/20/09
For Immediate Release
Contact: Mason Scott
mscott@rpwb.com