Brunell and AAI Brief Cited by Law360 on Class Certification Appeal in Asacol

AAI’s General Counsel Rick Brunell was quoted in an article by Law360, “Consumer Groups Push 1st Circuit to Redo Asacol Class Cert.”

“Rick Brunell, an attorney for the American Antitrust Institute, told Law360 on Wednesday that the AAI brief expressed concern about the adverse impact the decision will have on all kinds of generic exclusion cases.

“‘By limiting class actions in this area, the decision makes it more likely that pharmaceutical companies will engage in anticompetitive tactics to impede generic entry and less likely that injured consumers and third-party payors will be compensated,’ Brunell said.”

The article noted that the American Antitrust Institute’s brief “argued that the First Circuit’s opinion will undermine the enforcement of antitrust laws and threatens to ‘create a liability shield in the pharmaceutical industry’ where the ‘brand loyalist’ phenomenon is common.’

“‘The difficulty of identifying uninjured ‘brand-loyal’ class members is especially acute (and perverse) when, as here, defendants’ alleged wrongdoing has prevented generics from coming to market and thereby revealing customer purchasing preferences,’ according to AAI’s brief.”