MONTGOMERY, Ala. (Legal Newsline) — Alabama Attorney General Steven T. Marshall announced April 18 that he is urging consumers to file claims related to the state’s settlement with the makers of the drug Provigil by June 25.
He said $35 million is set to be distributed to consumers across the nation who paid for Provigil or generic modafinil from June 24, 2006, to March 31, 2012. Provigil treats patients with excessive sleepiness associated with narcolepsy, obstructive sleep apnea and shift work disorder.
The makers of the drug – biopharmaceutical company Cephalon and its affiliated companies, including Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Teva Pharmaceuticals USA and Barr Laboratories – purportedly engaged in unlawful pay-for-delay tactics to keep patent exclusivity for the drug. In August 2016, the defendants settled with 48 attorneys general. The $125 settlement involves $35 million that will go toward consumers.
“I am pleased that this settlement will help to compensate consumers for many millions of dollars that they should not have had to pay for Provigil,” Marshall said. “These overcharges resulted from misrepresentations and inappropriate manipulations of federal patent regulations by Cephalon to delay the availability of generic versions of the drug.”