Drug Manufacturers Settle With Retailers

Drug store owners could get a fat check for settling their lawsuit that charges drug manufacturers with giving unfair discounts to health maintenance organizations and hospitals.

However, the tentative deal apparently offers no relief from high prescription prices for uninsured and elderly patients.

In the suit, representing 40,000 of the nation’s 56,000 pharmacies, lawyers claimed that the drug makers illegally conspired to offer discounts averaging 40 percent to 50 percent or more to HMOs and hospitals while denying these price breaks to the pharmacies.

Under the terms of the settlement, the pharmacies would drop their claim in exchange for a payment of roughly $600 million from 13 big drug makers.