Maine included in suit against drug maker

DETROIT – Michigan’s attorney general on Monday filed a federal class-action lawsuit in cooperation with 14 other states, including Maine, and the District of Columbia alleging a French pharmaceutical company violated antitrust laws.

The lawsuit alleges that Aventis Pharmaceuticals Inc., the producer of the heart medication Cardizem CD, conspired with a producer of a generic version of the drug, to keep the less costly version off the market.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in Detroit claims that Aventis paid Florida-based Andrx Corp. $89 million to keep the generic drug off the market for 11 months.

“When there’s a monopoly of a certain drug, prices go up and choice for the consumer goes down,” Michigan Attorney General Jennifer Granholm said at a news conference Monday.

A message left with an Aventis spokesman in Parsippany, N.J., was not immediately returned Monday.

The lawsuit, which also involves the attorneys general of New York, Arizona, California, Idaho, Indiana, Maine, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Utah, Vermont, Washington state and West Virginia, seeks at least $100 million in damages.

“We want to make sure that the profit is not worth it … and hopefully, other companies will think twice before they engage in this type of agreement,” Granholm said.

ust laws.

The lawsuit alleges that Aventis Pharmaceuticals Inc., the producer of the heart medication Cardizem CD, conspired with a producer of a generic version of the drug, to keep the less costly version off the market.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in Detroit claims that Aventis paid Florida-based Andrx Corp. $89 million to keep the generic drug off the market for 11 months.

“When there’s a monopoly of a certain drug, prices go up and choice for the consumer goes down,” Michigan Attorney General Jennifer Granholm said at a news conference Monday.

A message left with an Aventis spokesman in Parsippany, N.J., was not immediately returned Monday.

The lawsuit, which also involves the attorneys general of New York, Arizona, California, Idaho, Indiana, Maine, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Utah, Vermont, Washington state and West Virginia, seeks at least $100 million in damages.

“We want to make sure that the profit is not worth it … and hopefully, other companies will think twice before they engage in this type of agreement,” Granholm said.

BANGOR – Bangor Hydro-Electric Co. (NYSE: BGR) has announce revised unaudited quarterly earnings for the first quarter ended March 31, which were $.61 per common share compared to $.53 per common share for the same quarter a year ago.

Previously Bangor Hydro reported a decline in first quarter earnings, caused primarily by the exercise of common stock warrants. Because of the regulatory treatment of the cost of the warrants, Bangor Hydro charged the excess of the market price of its common stock over the book value at the time of exercise to earnings. The company has since determined that the warrants exercised at a market price above book value should have been recorded as a reduction of paid in capital on the balance sheet. Therefore, the original charge to earnings for these warrants has been reversed. This results in revised earnings per common share of $.61 compared to $.40 per common share, as previously reported.

WESTBROOK – “Ready for the e-Future” will be the theme of the Maine Credit Union League’s 63rd annual convention at the Augusta Civic Center in Augusta on Friday and Saturday. Nearly 650 credit union representatives from across Maine are expected to attend the two-day convention.

Today, nearly half of the Maine population belongs to a credit union. In addition, Maine credit unions account for two-thirds of the state’s financial institutions with assets nearing $2.7 billion.

U.S. Rep. Tom Allen will speak at the Friday evening banquet and U.S. Rep. John Baldacci will speak Saturday during the Maine Credit Union League’s annual meeting. The keynote speaker at this year’s convention is Katy Slater, a nationally recognized veteran of the financial services industry and the vice president of consumer information services at NFOW FSG (formerly PSI Global, a research and consulting firm specializing in financial services). Her talk will focus on the forces that influence the financial service market and what happens next.

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court turned away an appeal from the Delta Air Lines pilots’ union over unauthorized protests waged by some unionized pilots.

The court did not comment Monday as it let stand a lower court ruling that said the union must act to end the individual pilots’ protest. The pilots refused to work overtime, which disrupted airline operations while the union and the airline were negotiating a new contract.

The union representing Delta’s 9,800 pilots said it did not support the no-overtime protests, and should not be made to answer for them. Delta claimed the pilots were trying to force a better deal.

– From staff and wire reports

The issue is probably moot, because the airline and the union have since tentatively agreed on a five-year contract. Pilots will begin voting next week on whether to ratify the contract.