By Jon Tomlin (February 14, 2018, 10:24 AM EST) -- In numerous recent antitrust class actions, indirect purchaser plaintiffs have alleged a price-fixing conspiracy involving manufacturers several stages "upstream" from the retail level at which they made their purchases. Indirect purchaser plaintiffs in recent antitrust suits include consumers of computers, eggs, drywall, tuna, chicken, automobiles and power tools. In order to establish that any price-fixing overcharges imposed by manufacturers were ultimately "passed through" to them, these plaintiffs must "find a way to account for the decision-making of a variety of resellers and manufacturers in an intricate distribution chain" leading to their ultimate purchases.[1] As several recent decisions demonstrate, this can be a formidable economic task....