Pfizer sues to block generic cholesterol drug from being sold

I guess it makes good business sense for consumer health care and large pharmaceutical firms to protect the patents and profits on drugs that they spent millions to develop -- but where does one draw the line?

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer -- who is the world's biggest drugmaker -- has made the point pretty clear by suing Ranbaxy Laboratories so that the latter company will not market a generic version of the cholesterol and blood pressure medicine Caduet (which is made by Pfizer).

Ranbaxy, based in India, wants FDA approval to sell a "cheaper version" of Caduet. Pfizer almost immediately called in the patent law team, stating that such a drug would infringe on two patents granted to Pfizer that expire in 2010 and 2018.