In a major development in the long-running generics price-fixing litigation, the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut has issued sanctions against the state of Missouri for failing to comply with court-ordered discovery requirements. The decision marks a significant turn in the broader Missouri sanctions generics price-fixing fight, with potential consequences including the dismissal of Missouri’s claims from the multi-state antitrust case.
Judge Michael P. Shea ruled on Monday that Missouri violated prior court orders by neglecting repeated discovery requests from generic drug manufacturers. The court stated that sanctions are warranted and that dismissal of Missouri’s claims will proceed unless the state submits a sworn statement by May 19, 2025, confirming full compliance with the July 15, 2024 discovery ruling. Additionally, drugmaker defendants must confirm receipt of all required documentation and reimbursement for related legal costs by May 26, 2025.
The case is part of a wider legal battle involving numerous states accusing major pharmaceutical companies—including Teva, Mylan, Actavis, and Sandoz—of conspiring to fix prices and allocate customers across more than 200 generic drugs.
This latest ruling follows the court’s preliminary approval of a $39.1 million settlement with Apotex Corp., one of the implicated drug manufacturers. A final approval hearing is scheduled for August 12, 2025.
The motion for sanctions against Missouri was originally filed by more than two dozen drug companies after the state failed to provide documents requested since April 2021, despite multiple warnings and judicial orders issued through both the Pennsylvania multidistrict litigation docket and the Connecticut court system.
Missouri has argued that it did not act in bad faith and that the dispute concerns a narrow set of documents. However, Judge Shea rejected these arguments, stating that Missouri had been given ample opportunity to comply and failed to provide even an indication of doing so.
“The court hereby grants the defendants’ motion for sanctions,” Judge Shea wrote in his ruling. “The state of Missouri’s action is hereby dismissed… having received multiple chances to comply… and having, to date, not filed with this court any proof or even indication of compliance.”
Counsel for the Missouri Attorney General’s Office and representatives of the defendant pharmaceutical companies have not yet issued a statement.
This ruling underscores the importance of timely compliance in high-stakes litigation and may influence how future cases in the generics price-fixing fight are managed across the country.
