Iowa joins lawsuit against drug company

Iowa’s involved in another consumer lawsuit, this time joining more than two dozen other states charging that a pharmaceutical company tried to keep a corner on the market for a heart medicine used by perhaps a million people. Bob Brammer, the spokesman for Iowa’s Attorney General, says the state’s alleging a drug manufacturer blocked a major drug from coming on the market because it would be competitive and lots cheaper. The generic version of the drug is out now, but the suit alleges that its production was delayed. Cardizem C-D is a popular medicine that can help with high blood pressure and heart disease. Brammer explains that after a drug company’s had years of exclusive patent rights to earn back the cost of research, competitors can start making their version of the drug.He says this was about to happen when the company making Cardizem paid a competitor not to market the generic version. Brammer says there could be 10-thousand Iowans using the brand name or generic version of the drug.