Vitamins Price-Fixing Antitrust Litigation

Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, actively represents the interests of purchasers of vitamins, bulk vitamins, and vitamin premixes in class action litigation against U.S. and foreign vitamin manufacturers.

Background: The "Vitamins Cartel"

On May 20, 1999, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that two companies and one executive agreed to plead guilty to charges of fixing the prices of vitamins A, B2, B5, C, E and beta carotene. Hoffman-LaRoche, Ltd. agreed to pay $500 million, the largest antitrust criminal fine ever imposed. BASF AG agreed to pay $225 million as part of its plea bargain.

Previously, on March 2, 1999, the Justice Department announced that five executives and one company agreed to plead guilty to participating in the same conspiracy. The executives were charged with fixing the prices and allocating sales of vitamin B4 (choline chloride). Lonza AG agreed to plead guilty to fixing the price and allocating sales of vitamin B3 (niacin and niacinamide).

California Vitamins Price-Fixing Class Action

Lieff Cabraser serves as co-liaison counsel in a class action brought on behalf of California indirect purchasers of vitamins, vitamin premixes, and/or other vitamin products purchased from January 1, 1988 to September 29, 1998.

On January 18, 2002, the Hon. John E. Munter of the San Francisco Superior Court granted final approval to a partial settlement of the case, which required the settling vitamin manufacturers to pay up to $80 million for the benefit of consumers and businesses in California.

Of this amount, the settling defendants agreed to pay $38 million for the benefit of consumers, pursuant to a court-approved plan of distribution, to eligible organizations that collectively are, as nearly as possible, representative of the interests of the injured consumers, and up to $42 million to persons and entities that indirectly purchased vitamins and vitamin products for resale or for incorporation into another product for resale, where the purchase of the vitamins or vitamin products was by a purchaser in California, from a seller in California, or delivered by the seller to a purchaser in California if the purchaser's principal place of business was in California. Lieff Cabraser is continuing to litigate vigorously their clients' cases against the non-settling defendants, who constitute approximately 15% of the total market of bulk vitamins.

To read a copy of the court's order approving the consumer class settlement, click here.

To read a copy of the court's order approving the commercial class settlement, click here.

Federal Vitamins Price-Fixing Class Action

Lieff Cabraser is also involved in a federal court action relating to the price-fixing of vitamins. This case is captioned Midwestern Pet Foods, Inc. v. F. Hoffman-LaRoche, Ltd., and is pending in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia as part of the coordinated litigation, In re vitamin Antitrust Litigation, MDL No. 1285. A partial settlement of the cases valued at over $1 billion has been approved by the court. Further information can be obtained by calling the Settlement Administrator at 1-877-733-2323.

About Lieff Cabraser

Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP is a fifty-plus attorney law firm with offices in San Francisco, New York and Nashville. We represent businesses, governments and individuals as plaintiffs in class and group actions as well as in individual lawsuits in cases involving substantial losses. Since 2003, the National Law Journal has annually selected Lieff Cabraser as one of the top plaintiffs' law firms in the nation.

Lieff Cabraser has played a prominent role in federal litigation under the Sherman Act on behalf of businesses in numerous markets including computer components, prescription drugs, polypropylene carpets, compact discs, credit cards, linerboard, carbon fiber, plastic laminates, flat glass, industrial pigments and vitamins. We have also successfully litigated antitrust claims against Microsoft Corporation for monopolistic practices, and achieved record recoveries against El Paso Gas Co. and wholesale electric companies for allegedly manipulating the price of energy in California. Learn more about our firm.

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This website is sponsored by Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, a national plaintiffs' law firm.


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