Update March 2011: The U.S. Supreme Court has denied certiorari without explanation.
Update: The Second Circuit has denied drug purchasers request for en banc review of the decision upholding a reverse payment settlement between a patented drug manufacturer and a generic drug manufacturer.
The Second Circuit in Ciprofloxacin Hydrochloride Antitrust Litigation held that it was bound by prior circuit law to rule that the settlement did not violate the antitrust laws. The court urged the plaintiffs to seek reconsideration en banc, however, siting several factors. First, the Department of Justice has urged the court to reconsider prior law. Second, the number of reverse payment settlements has increased dramatically since the earlier case, and a sponsor of the Hatch-Waxman Act, Senator Orrin Hatch, criticized the earlier decision. Finally, the panel admitted that its earlier ruling rested in relevant part on the mistaken belief that subsequent filers for approval of generic drugs would be granted 180 day exclusivity periods.