AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- A California flu vaccine distributor is denying charges in a Texas lawsuit alleging price gouging, saying it was passing along its own higher costs.
In a statement issued by its lawyers, Dubin Medical Inc. of San Diego said it was Ben Taub General Hospital in Houston that initiated the transaction, the pricing of which is called "unconscionable" in the lawsuit filed by Attorney General Greg Abbott.
"Dubin Medical has itself confronted the reality of increased costs for available flu vaccine," the company statement said. "Dubin's own costs to purchase and sell the vaccine have risen sharply. This, in turn, has raised the cost to our customers."
The statement denied Abbott's allegation Dubin "made profits between 500 and 1,000 percent."
The state suit, filed Thursday in Harris County District Court, accused Dubin Medical and ASAP Meds Inc. of "perpetrating fraud in the face of a healthcare challenge," the Houston Chronicle said.
The vaccine is in short supply since federal health officials announced in early October that the nation's supply of the flu vaccine would fall short by 48 million doses because of contamination at the British plant of one of its two manufacturers, Chiron Corp.
