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Strategies & Market Trends : Rande Is . . . HOME -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lola who wrote (7200)	5/19/1999 4:23:00 PM
From: Rande Is	Respond to of 57584

FTC Blasted for Overstepping Bounds in Mylan Lawsuit WASHINGTON, May 19 /PRNewswire/ -- At a conference sponsored by the Federalist Society yesterday, economists and antitrust experts blasted the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for attempting to use its case against generic drug manufacturer Mylan Laboratories to expand its antitrust enforcement power in ways not contemplated by Congress. In the Mylan case, the FTC is asking the D.C. District Court to grant it the unprecedented power to seek "disgorgement" of $120 million in allegedly ill-gotten profits. According to panelist Bert Rein, partner at the Washington D.C. law firm of Wiley, Rein & Fielding, the FTC's fundamental role is to provide guidance and expertise to the business community. "It seems that the FTC has altered its role as an advisor to businesses to that of a prosecutor," said Rein. Late last year, Mylan was charged by the FTC with monopolizing the market of anti-anxiety drugs lorazepam and clorazepate by establishing agreements with the manufacturer of the active ingredients for the two drugs. In federal court last Thursday, Mylan, joined by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, asked that the case be dismissed. As the Chamber brief pointed out, "the FTC's unprecedented claim ... constitutes ... an unwarranted excess in enforcement." Panelist Fred Smith, president of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, also criticized the FTC for seeking from the courts power that Congress never granted the agency. This amounts to "regulation without representation," argued Smith. SOURCE Mylan Laboratories CO: Mylan Laboratories; Federalist Society; Federal Trade Commission