- The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is poised to sue the three largest pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) in the United States — CVS’ Caremark, Cigna’s Express Scripts, and UnitedHealth’s Optum Rx — over their pricing negotiations with pharmaceutical manufacturers, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. The anticipated lawsuits will focus on the PBMs’ practices regarding drug discounts, particularly for medications like insulin. This development follows the FTC’s release of an interim report on its nearly three-year investigation into PBMs, which highlighted concerns that these entities exploit their market dominance to generate profits at the expense of patients and independent pharmacists. (Articles here, here, and here)
July 17, 2024
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