Three pharmaceutical executives tried to get out of testifying before the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on grounds that the FTC planned to videotape the proceedings. Citing a federal rule that requires testimony to be recorded by stenographers, and not cameras, attorneys for the drug makers attempted to use a twisted definition of the word “shall” to keep their bosses from appearing before commissioners. DC Circuit Court Chief Judge David Sentelle rejected the argument, saying it “borders on sophistry.” He wrote, "Lest we be misunderstood, the Commission does not propose to use video methods of transcription instead of stenographic transcription, but only in addition thereto."
Three companies—Unimed Pharmaceuticals, Laboratories Besins Iscovesco, and Solvay Pharmaceuticals—are accused of conspiring to keep a generic version of the testosterone drug AndroGel from becoming available on the market.
The executives in question, Scott Tarriff, Paul Campanelli and Edward Maloney, were associated with Par Pharmaceuticals and Paddock Laboratories.
-Noel Brinkerhoff