Boston, MA 04/21/2014 (wallstreetpr) – A spinoff of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) insisted on a federal appeals court in San Francisco to rethink its decision in the case against Glaxo SmithKline plc (ADR) (NYSE:GSK).
On Thursday, AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV) urged the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to revisit a preliminary three judge ruling according to which a gay man was inappropriately denied inclusion in jury service. The reason was the man’s sexual orientation. AbbVie has now urged the full court to review the decision, but without agitating landmark constitutional security for lesbians and gays.
No Discrimination
The San Francisco court in reaching that judgment in January ordered a new hearing for AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV) against Glaxo SmithKline plc (ADR) (NYSE:GSK).after AbbVie claimed that the ruling of the 9th Circuit requires review because of its capability to influence many other jury trials in the future. AbbVie, however, said that it does not seek the court to rethink a holding that focuses on the constitutional affects judges in many Western states are now required to apply at the time of evaluation of laws pertaining to rights for gay people. Abbott’s lawyers said that the company condemns practices of inequity in various forms, including in the selection of a jury, and no such discrimination was witnessed in this case.
The Case
Glaxo SmithKline plc (ADR) (NYSE:GSK) versus Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) case concerns the pricing of medications focusing on HIV, which is a controversial matter in the gay community. Glaxo claimed that Abbott increased the costs of the drug called Norvir so that it could maintain the growth in sales of its other HIV drug called Kaletra. Abbott was accused to have increased the price of Norvir, a drug which is capable of boosting the efficiency of other medications, by as much as 400% in 2003. In this issue, Glaxo had expected to win $571 million but ended up receiving only $3.5 million after the one month trial.
