Labaton Sucharow Files Class Action Lawsuit Against Surescripts for Anticompetitive Practices

NEW YORK — Labaton Sucharow LLP announces that on July 27, 2020, it filed a complaint, 731 Pharmacy Corp. d/b/a Ivan Pharmacy v. Surescripts, LLC, No. 1:20-cv-04391 (N.D. Ill.) (the “Action”), on behalf of Plaintiff 731 Pharmacy Corp. d/b/a Ivan Pharmacy against Defendant Surescripts, LLC (“Surescripts”) for anticompetitive practices.

The Action asserts claims under the Sherman Act, as well as state law, on behalf of pharmacies who indirectly purchased or paid for e-prescription routing transactions from Surescripts beginning at least as early as January 1, 2010, (the “Class”). 

Surescripts is a health information technology firm involved in the e-prescription industry. In 2009, Surescripts had monopolies over the e-prescription routing and prescription eligibility analysis markets, which were poised to experience explosive growth due to federal incentives.

Fearing competition from other health information technology companies, Surescripts took a series of anticompetitive actions to protect and maintain its monopolies. Surescripts’s conduct took multiple forms—locking pharmacies into onerous contractual terms, threatening would-be competitors, and entering into blatantly anticompetitive agreements with would-be competitors.

This multifaceted anticompetitive scheme has been remarkably successful. Despite a massive increase in e-prescribing over the past decade, Surescripts has prevented any meaningful competition, maintaining at least a 95% market share (by transaction volume) of e-prescribing services.

Defendant’s conduct has not gone unnoticed by the federal government. On April 17, 2019, after an extensive investigation, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia against Surescripts for engaging in anticompetitive conduct to maintain its monopoly for e-prescribing services. On January 17, 2020, the court denied Surescripts’s motion to dismiss FTC’s complaint.

If you are a pharmacy who indirectly purchased or paid for e-prescription routing transactions from Surescripts, you may be a member of the Class.

If you have any questions about this lawsuit, you may contact Labaton Sucharow partner Gregory Asciolla at (800) 321-0476, or via email at gasciolla@labaton.com.

Labaton Sucharow represents businesses, investors, and consumers in challenges to anticompetitive conduct taking place in the United States and abroad. Labaton Sucharow has been recognized for its excellence by the courts and peers, and it is consistently ranked in leading industry publications. Our offices are located in New York, NY, Wilmington, DE, and Washington, D.C. More information about Labaton Sucharow is available at www.labaton.com.

You can view a copy of the complaint here.