Schering-Plough illegally paid generic pharmaceutical company Upsher-Smith Laboratories $60 million in an agreement to delay market entry of generic versions of a heart medication in 1997 and 1998 in violation of federal antitrust laws, the Federal Trade Commission decided Thursday, Bloomberg/Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The 5-0 decision reversed a dismissal of the allegations by an FTC administrative law judge (Rowley, Bloomberg/Philadelphia Inquirer, 12/19). In July, Judge D. Michael Chappell ruled Schering-Plough did not violate federal antitrust laws in the agreement. In the decision, Chappell said that the FTC did not prove the allegations and dismissed them. FTC attorneys argued that a 1997 agreement between Schering-Plough and Upsher-Smith violated federal law and imposed costs of tens of millions of dollars on users of K-Dur 20, a potassium chloride supplement used to treat the side effects of hypertension medications (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 7/3). According to FTC attorneys, "It is logical to conclude that the quid pro quo for payment" was to delay market entry of generic medications. Attorneys for Schering-Plough and Upsher-Smith said that the $60 million payment was part of an agreement to settle patent infringement lawsuits and that "there was no proof the agreement delayed" market entry of generic medications, Bloomberg/Inquirer reports. Schering-Plough officials said in a statement that the company "continues to believe that the patent litigation settlements complied with the law and benefited consumers" and plans to ask a federal appeals court to review the FTC decision (Bloomberg/Philadelphia Inquirer, 12/19).