News Briefs: Ohio AG Sues ‘Modern Gangster’ PBMs

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed a lawsuit accusing The Cigna Group’s Express Scripts, Blue Cross Blue Shield-owned Prime Therapeutics, Humana Pharmacy Solutions and Ascent Health Services of colluding to “illegally drive up drug prices” and push those higher costs onto patients. In a March 27 press release, Yost called PBMs “modern gangsters” who have been “scheming in the shadows to control drug prices on all sides of the market” rather than using their negotiating power to drive down prescription costs, as advertised. The suit accuses the PBMs of multiple violations of the Valentine Act, Ohio’s antitrust law, and was filed in the Delaware County Common Pleas Court. “In the case of Express Scripts, the company added insult to injury when it responded to mounting public criticism of PBMs by forming the ‘group purchasing organization’ Ascent Health Services in 2019 — purportedly to take over the company’s pricing and rebate negotiations with drug manufacturers,” Yost’s press release stated.

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