Acthar Price-Gouging Suits Against Mallinckrodt to Stay Separate

A panel of judges rejected a bid to centralize price-gouging litigation over Mallinckrodt Plc’s infantile spasm drug Acthar in a single court, saying the cases involve too many variables, including Mallinckrodt’s bankruptcy, although “consolidation of some kind is appropriate.”

The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation turned down requests by different parties—including Acthar buyers and Cigna Corp. unit Express Scripts, a leading drug distributor targeted by some of the lawsuits—to transfer all the cases to federal courts in Chicago or New Jersey.

Although there’s “factual and legal overlap among” the 10 antitrust lawsuits, “uncertainty about the timing and outcome of ...