Attorney General Jeff Jackson Reaches $17.85 Million Settlement with Lannett and Bausch Over Generic Drug Price Fixing; Sues Novartis and Sandoz

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, February 3, 2026
Contact: nahmed@ncdoj.gov
919-538-2809

If you bought certain generic prescription drugs in the United States between May 1, 2009, and December 31, 2019, you could be eligible for money.

RALEIGH — Attorney General Jeff Jackson reached two settlements totaling $17.85 million with Lannett Company, Inc. (“Lannett”) and Bausch Health US, LLC and Bausch Health Americas, Inc. (“Bausch”) to resolve generic drug price-fixing allegations. Attorney General Jackson also filed a new lawsuit against Novartis and Sandoz alleging similar drug price-fixing.

“My office will not allow drugmakers to fix prices and make North Carolinians pay more than they should for their medicines,” said Attorney General Jeff Jackson. “These settlements are getting money back for North Carolinians, and we’re continuing our cases to ensure fair competition and costs for prescription drugs.”

The settlements with Lannett and Bausch to resolve allegations that the companies engaged in widespread, long-running conspiracies to artificially inflate and manipulate prices, reduce competition, and unreasonably restrain trade for many generic prescription drugs. Both companies have agreed to cooperate in the ongoing multistate cases against 30 corporate defendants and 25 individual executives and have agreed to make business changes to ensure fair competition and comply with antitrust law. North Carolinians who purchased generic prescription drugs made by Lannett or Bausch between May 2009 and December 2019 may be eligible for compensation. To determine your eligibility, call 1-866-290-0182 (Toll-Free), email info@AGGenericDrugs.com or visit www.AGGenericDrugs.com.

Attorney General Jackson has also filed a new lawsuit against Novartis and its generic drug subsidiary Sandoz alleging that the companies conspired with other generic manufacturers to fix prices, allocate markets and rig bids for 31 generic drugs.  To shield itself from legal liability, Novartis allegedly tried to transfer, drain assets from, and spin off Sandoz.

These settlements come as Attorney General Jackson is litigating three antitrust cases related to price-fixing. The cases all stem from a series of investigations built on evidence from several cooperating witnesses at the core of the different conspiracies, a massive document database of over 20 million documents, and a phone records database containing millions of call detail records and contact information for over 600 sales and pricing individuals in the generics industry.

• The first case involves included Heritage and 17 other corporate defendants, two individual defendants, and 15 generic drugs. Two former executives from Heritage Pharmaceuticals have since entered into settlement agreements and are cooperating.
• The second case was filed in 2019 against Teva Pharmaceuticals and 19 of the nation’s largest generic drug manufacturers, as well as 16 individual Defendants.
• The third case is likely to go to trial in late 2026 against 26 corporate defendants and 10 individual defendants and focuses on 80 topical generic drugs that account for billions of dollars of sales in the United States.

Attorney General Jackson was joined in reaching the Lannett and Bausch settlements by Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, U.S. Virgin Islands, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and Puerto Rico.

The states and territories joining Attorney General Jackson in filing the Novartis and Sandoz lawsuit are  Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New  York, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia, Washington, West Viginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

A copy of the complaint against Novartis and Sandoz is available here.

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