Complaint filed against Medicine Shoppe, Cardinal Health

Titan Pharmaceuticals, Nutrition Inc., New York City, and George Mitsopoulos, a licensed pharmacist and the principal shareholder of Titan, have filed a complaint commencing a class action suit against Medicine Shoppe and Cardinal Health. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court Southern District of New York. The plaintiffs claim they are bringing this action to void an alleged arbitration agreement induced by fraud, to recover damages caused by false earnings claims and related claims, and to recover damages caused by a fraudulent practice known as "channel stuffing." Channel stuffing is a deceptive business practice used by a company to inflate its sales and earnings figures by deliberately sending retailers along its distribution channel more products than they are able to sell to the public. A Medicine Shoppe International spokeswoman told Drug Topics, "We are aware of a recent lawsuit that contains class action allegations. However, it has not been certified by the court as a class action suit. The lawsuit currently involves only a single franchisee, and we believe that the allegations do not have merit. Beyond that, we do not discuss litigation publicly."