Southwest Airlines is buckling up to join in on a long-running legal battle surrounding an alleged price-fixing scheme involving generic medicines in the U.S.

In a 730-page lawsuit filed in federal court in Pennsylvania, the airline targets dozens of drugmakers and argues the companies “deprived the public” of the benefits of cheaper generic drugs by fixing the price of their meds since at least 2009. Among the generic defendants named are Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Sandoz, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Lupin and Apotex.

The scheme cost Southwest, a large employer that self-funds its employee health plans, “hundreds of millions of dollars” and caused “substantial injury” to its business, the company claims in the recently unsealed lawsuit.

The airline cited price increases for more than 1,200 generic drugs from July 2013 to July 2014, arguing the hikes were the “direct result” of the generic drug companies “illegally allocating” markets and customers as part of a “single, overarching and industry-wide” conspiracy, according to the complaint.

To help make its case, Southwest compiled many instances of communications between former leaders at top generic drugmakers concerning the market for dozens of named generic medications.

American Airlines and Target are among other large employers that have sued the group of generic drugmakers. The companies filed a joint lawsuit in the same court back in April 2024, Bloomberg Law reported at the time. 

The issue is also playing out in pending multi-district litigation grouping more than 20 separate lawsuits that date back to 2016. A handful of drugmakers, including Sandoz, Apotex, and Sun Pharma, have so far agreed to multi-million dollar settlements to resolve their end of the claims.

Years ago, generic medicine price-fixing concerns were raised by attorneys general of 44 states. At the time of a 2019 lawsuit, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong called the case the "largest cartel case in the history of the United States."

Southwest, for its part, cited the federal government's prosecution efforts in its own case. At least seven companies have admitted to criminal wrongdoing, according to the Department of Justice, and have agreed to fork over hundreds of millions of dollars in fines, civil penalties and restitution.