“We believe that this case is important. This alleged collusion is the kind of conduct antitrust laws in the United States were passed to address.” Eric Artrip
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — A group of Huntsville-area pharmacies have joined a class action lawsuit alleging price-fixing and anti-competitive practices by the largest pharmacy benefit management companies in the U.S.
The lawsuit claims the companies have improperly fixed the amounts pharmacies are paid for reimbursements of prescription drug claims. The lawsuit argues the three largest pharmacy benefit management companies, PBMs, are responsible for 80% of all prescriptions filled in the U.S., and the top six handle more than 95% of all U.S. prescriptions.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the following pharmacies in Huntsville: Star Discount Pharmacy, Propst Discount Drugs, Hunnington Pharmacy and Reeves Drug Store.
The four listed plaintiffs operate 11 pharmacies. Ten are located in Madison County and one in Tennessee.
The lawsuit names PBMs CVS Caremark Corporation (“Caremark”), Express Scripts Holding Company (“Express Scripts”), MedImpact Healthcare Systems, Inc. (“MedImpact”) and Navitus Health Solutions, LLC, along with prescription drug card aggregator GoodRx.
Attorney Eric Artrip, who filed the lawsuit, told News 19, “We believe that this case is important. This alleged collusion is the kind of conduct antitrust laws in the United States were passed to address.
“We hope that this will be a watershed moment in the industry benefiting not only tens of thousands of Independent pharmacies in rural communities across America, but also consumers and companies that end up paying higher prices as a result of the alleged anti-competitive behavior.”
The lawsuit states the companies operate in parts of the healthcare and prescription drug system, and they wield significant power.
“Each of the PBMs Defendants is a wholly owned subsidiary of a healthcare conglomerate that also owns mail-order, specialty, and/or retail pharmacies, large health insurance companies, and other players in the market for prescription dispensing services,” the lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit also argues, “The PBM Defendants exert their market power by employing various anti-competitive tactics to restrain competition in the prescription drug dispensing market, forcing independent pharmacies out of business and thereby increasing the market share of the PBMs’ affiliated pharmacies.”
The lawsuit says the price-fixing schemes include the companies sharing drug pricing information with each other. The plaintiffs’ lawsuit asks the court to:
- Find that the defendants have conspired to fix reimbursements to plaintiffs at artificially low levels;
- Bar the defendants from continuing the alleged anti-competitive practices;
- Award the plaintiffs triple the damages they have sustained, along with awarding other costs.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court of Rhode Island on Nov. 26. The Huntsville pharmacies are represented by the Mastando and Artrip law firm in Huntsville.
