CSL faces the heat as Mayo Clinic joins class action suit
15 Feb 2010
One of America's most prestigious and not-for-profit hospitals, Mayo Clinic, has joined a multimillion-dollar class action lawsuit against Australian blood plasma group CSL, alleging it was part of an international cartel that fixed plasma prices.
CSL denied the charges saying that it would defend the civil action.
The lawsuit, filed with the Illinois northern district court, seeks more than $100 million in damages and demands a trial by jury alleging that CSL and players in the global plasma industry had operated a 'tight oligopoly' engaging in market rigging and limiting the supply of life-saving therapies to push up prices, the Sky News reported today.
CSL is a leader in human plasma, which is used to produce a wide range of life-saving medicines.
Its plasma division has more than 65 plasma collection centres in the US and Germany, along with plasma testing laboratories and logistics centres in both countries.
One of the largest collectors of human blood plasma in the world, CSL Plasma sources the plasma required through its plasma collection operations and commercial purchases.