CVS sues St. Louis firm over generics

PROVIDENCE – CVS Pharmacy Inc., the operator of more than 7,000 drugstores in the U.S., has sued KV Pharmaceutical Co. for allegedly breaking a supply contract after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cited the drug maker’s generic unit for manufacturing problems, Bloomberg News reported.
CVS Pharmacy, a CVS Caremark Corp. unit, claims KV owes it at least $100 million for failing to supply metoprolol extended release tablets, potassium chloride capsules and nitroglycerine tablets beginning last year, according to a complaint filed Feb. 26 in federal court in Providence.
The pharmacy chain filed the complaint a day after St. Louis-based KV said its Ethex Corp. generic pharmaceutical marketing and distribution unit agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges to resolve a U.S. Justice Department investigation. Ethex, which will cease operations, is also a defendant in the drugstore’s lawsuit.
Ethex pleaded guilty last week to two felony counts for failing to file alerts with the FDA about problems involving oversized tablets of two drugs, prosecutors said in a statement. The company was ordered to pay $27.6 million in fines, restitution and forfeitures.
CVS said its contract required KV to provide its entire supply of the three generic drugs or reimburse any additional money it was forced to spend to get the drugs elsewhere.
Michael Anderson, a KV spokesman, declined comment on the lawsuit. &#8226