Pharmacies Sue Pfizer and Wyeth over $68 Billion Merger

Friday, August 28, 2009

If pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and Wyeth are allowed to merge, the result will be higher drugs prices, lower quality, and the loss of thousands of jobs, according to a lawsuit seeking to halt the $68 billion merger. The challenge has been filed by pharmacies that do business with the two drug makers which, if combined, would control 40% of the market. Pfizer and Wyeth are currently the first and fourth biggest drug makers in the United States. Plaintiffs argue that the new corporation would have the leverage to sell low-quality drugs at increased prices, and that at least 22,000 jobs would be lost from the joining of Pfizer and Wyeth.

 
One-third of the merger will be financed by loans from Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase, which received a combined total of $120 billion from the TARP bank bailout.
-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky
 
Pfizer-Wyeth Merger Challenged as Monopoly (by Elizabeth Banicki, Courthouse News Service)

Comments

CM 14 years ago
THIS IS THE MOST REDICULOUS THING I EVER HEARD - THERE IS NO WAY THE MERGER CONTROLS 40% OF THE DRUG MARKET. AND AS FOR QUALITY-WHY SHOULD THE QUALITY OF THEIR DRUGS CHANGE. IF U KNEW ANYTHING ABOUT THE QUALITY CONTROL THE SUBJECT THEIR MEDICATIONS TO, YOU WOULDN'T MAKE THIS STATEMENT. SOME JOBS MAY BE LOST BUT THAT IS VERTICAL INTEGRATION AND IT HAPPENS IN ALL MERGERS.

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