Attorney General Liz Murrill announces three lawsuits against CVS
Attorney General Liz Murrill has filed three lawsuits against CVS.
One of them stemmed from the text message CVS sent to people on June 11th, the second to last day of the legislative session, urging them to contact their legislator and oppose House Bill 358.
“They used our information to lobby for their own corporate interests and to scare people into lobbying on their behalf,” Murrill told a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
Murrill was among those who received the text messages.
“It’s my belief that CVS did use customer information for the reason that we, including me, received text messages from CVS on the same text chain that we received prescription information, flu shot information, and other information related to your healthcare,” said Murrill.
HB 358, which ultimately died when time ran out on the session, had a provision tacked on at the last minute that would have banned pharmacy benefit managers from owning pharmacies.
CVS said in the text blast would have forced it to close all stores statewide.
Murrill said CVS’ texts were full of misinformation.
“At least one or two of those text messages that I saw that came directly to me threatened seniors, veterans and people with serious healthcare conditions and said that you might not be able to get your medication or if you do, you may have to pay more,” Murrill said.
CVS said its communications with its customers, patients and community members was consistent with the law.
“To be clear, we did not use any Office of Group Benefits (OGB) member information, and we agree with Governor Landry and Attorney General Murrill that OGB data should not be used for this type of outreach,” CVS said in a statement provided to LRN.
“We believe it was important for people to know about a potential disruption to where they get their medicine, whether that is at one of our 119 retail pharmacies in Louisiana, through home delivery, a long-term care pharmacy, or at a specialty pharmacy,” the statement continued.
The other two lawsuits Murrill filed allege that CVS’ abuse of pharmacy benefit managers manipulates drug prices, and CVS’ business practices drives independent pharmacies out of business.
“Since 2022, we’ve had over 100 independent pharmacies close,” said Murrill. “Those numbers continue to rise because of the tactics that are used to drive them out of business.”
Regarding Murrill’s allegations of pharmacy benefit manager abuse, CVS said, “We believe the claims are without merit and will defend ourselves vigorously.”
And regarding its business model, CVS said it “delivers value to members, patients, customers, and clients by providing better access, affordability, and advocacy for those we serve.”
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