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London - Britain's health authorities are suing consumer goods group Reckitt Benckiser for £89m over the supply of its heartburn medicine Gaviscon, the company said on Sunday.
“We will be vigorously defending it (the lawsuit),” a Reckitt spokesperson said.
In October, Reckitt was fined £10.2m by the Office of Fair Trading after admitting abuse of its dominant position in Britain for the supply of Gaviscon.
Reckitt admitted infringing British and European competition law by withdrawing and delisting Gaviscon Liquid original from Britain's National Health Service (NHS) prescription service in 2005 and replacing it with a different-formula Gaviscon Liquid advance, for which there is no generic rival.
It meant that when family doctors searched for the product under the Gaviscon brand, the NHS prescription database would find only the advance version - which is still patent protected - and no cheaper generic alternatives.
“We will be vigorously defending it (the lawsuit),” a Reckitt spokesperson said.
In October, Reckitt was fined £10.2m by the Office of Fair Trading after admitting abuse of its dominant position in Britain for the supply of Gaviscon.
Reckitt admitted infringing British and European competition law by withdrawing and delisting Gaviscon Liquid original from Britain's National Health Service (NHS) prescription service in 2005 and replacing it with a different-formula Gaviscon Liquid advance, for which there is no generic rival.
It meant that when family doctors searched for the product under the Gaviscon brand, the NHS prescription database would find only the advance version - which is still patent protected - and no cheaper generic alternatives.
