"Health care costs have skyrocketed over the last several years. The high cost of prescription drugs is one of the major factors affecting the overall cost of health care today. No one is immune from these rising costs. Government, insurance companies, private corporations, and ultimately individual consumers are all affected. But among the hardest hit are senior citizens who often have to stretch fixed incomes to meet a growing need for prescription drugs". (Attorney General's …showed first 75 words of 996 total…

…showed last 75 words of 996 total…has joined other states in lawsuits and settlements with several major pharmaceutical companies. Illegal activities included the use of patent laws to keep less expensive, generic versions of various drugs off the market, and to control supplies of a medication's active ingredient to increase the price. Settlements in these cases have produced millions of dollars in restitution for consumers who paid inflated prescription drug prices as a result of the companies' activities." (Attorney General's Office)