A lawsuit claiming Mylan and its manufacturing partner Pfizer violated antitrust and racketeering laws in marketing the epinephrine auto-injector EpiPen has been certified as a class action to include purchasers in nationwide RICO claims, and purchasers based on individual state antitrust claims.

U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Crabtree issued the sealed ruling earlier today, allowing both sides in the litigation to assess if any portion should remain confidential.

“This is a textbook case of corporate greed,” said co-lead plaintiffs’ counsel Warren Burns of Dallas’ Burns Charest LLP, who presented the arguments supporting class certification to the court. “Moving forward we hope to gain compensation for the millions of Americans who paid grossly inflated prices for a simple but essential product.” 

The lawsuit alleges Pfizer and Mylan engaged in “an illegal scheme to monopolize the market” for the emergency allergy treatment, artificially raising prices for consumers in order to reap hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal profits. The lawsuit also claims that the companies conspired to delay competitors’ lower-cost products from coming to market. EpiPen pricing rose more than 600 percent under Mylan’s ownership, leading to consumer protests and Congressional scrutiny.

“While some politicians talk about efforts to rein in drug companies, this case has huge, real-world implications for holding those companies to account.  It demonstrates the importance of private enforcement,” said Mr. Burns.

The case is pending in Judge Crabtree’s court in Kansas City, Kansas.