Consumers Sue Pharmaceutical AstraZeneca Over Misleading Nexium Campaign

Consumers of the heartburn medication Nexium(R) today filed a lawsuit against the drug's distributor, AstraZeneca . The suit alleges that the pharmaceutical company sought to preserve their market share and profits as the patent on their blockbuster drug, Prilosec(R), 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.

Filed in U.S. Superior Court in Los Angeles, the suit contends that the core of AstraZeneca's scheme was to use misleading information to convince consumers that Nexium was a significantly better drug than Prilosec. The pharmaceutical planned to redirect consumer loyalty from the flagship drug Prilosec to Nexium before the expiration of Prilosec's U.S. patent and the onslaught of competition from generic manufacturers that would deprive AstraZeneca of significant profits.

"AstraZeneca knew that with the expiration of their Prilosec patent, they would lose market share and profits. We intend to show that they initiated a plan to deceive consumers and recoup those lost revenues," said Steve Berman, lead attorney for the plaintiffs. "This suit is a response to their deception and is a message to AstraZeneca and all pharmaceutical companies that they will be accountable to consumers for their actions."

The suit is brought by the American Federation of Labor - Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), the Congress of California Seniors, and the California Alliance for Retired Americans, on behalf of consumers nationwide who purchased Nexium. All three of the organizations are members of the Prescription Access Litigation Project (PAL), a national coalition of 100 consumer organizations dedicated to fighting illegal pharmaceutical price inflation through class-action litigation.

The AFL-CIO, a federation of labor unions representing 13 million members (more than 80 percent of the unionized workforce in the United States), sees the suit as apart of its mission to make healthcare affordable for all Americans.

"More and more workers cannot get the healthcare they need, and out-of-control drug prices are a huge factor," said Gerry Shea, AFL-CIO's director of governmental affairs. "The AFL-CIO is joining the Prescription Access Litigation Project and the suit against AstraZeneca because it's high time that drug companies were held accountable for deceiving American consumers into buying 'new' drugs they don't need at prices they can't afford." The AFL-CIO is the 100th organization to join the PAL coalition, which spans 34 states and the District of Columbia.

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.