3 lawsuits filed against CVS, Louisiana AG announces

BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — Attorney General Liz Murrill announced that three separate lawsuits have been filed against CVS Health Corp, CaremarkPCS Health, LLC, and affiliated entities.

Murrill said the state is seeking injunctive relief and restitution.

“Today, I have filed multiple lawsuits against CVS Health Corp, CaremarkPCS Health, LLC, and their affiliated entities for unfair, deceptive, and unlawful practices that have harmed Louisiana patients and independent pharmacies. CVS used their customers’ personal information that was given to them to fill their prescription, to lobby for their own corporate interests against pending legislation in the State Legislature,” Murrill said in a statement.

A spokesperson from CVS said their communication with customers followed the law and didn’t use any Office of Group Benefits member information.

“Our focus is and remains serving the people of Louisiana: lowering drug costs, providing access to care, and helping improve health. We look forward to working productively with policymakers to continue to make prescription drugs more affordable and accessible and to promote the value of community pharmacy,” the spokesperson said.

The company said the removal of CVS pharmacies would increase the cost to the state by more than $4.6 million.

Class action lawsuit filed after text messages sent

A class action lawsuit was filed against a CVS subsidiary on June 18 after thousands of messages via email and text were sent to Louisiana residents urging them to oppose House Bill 358. The bill aimed to prevent PBMs from owning or controlling pharmacies.

Another bill, House Bill 264, that would regulate PBMs passed through the Louisiana Legislature. The bill would redefine the term rebate to include a wide range of discounts received by PBMs.

Gov. Jeff Landry pushed to “rein in” PBMs near the end of the regular legislative session, saying it “kills local jobs and drive up healthcare costs.”

Messages sent to residents claimed that HB 358 would result in the closure of CVS pharmacy locations, an increase in prescription prices, and pharmacists losing their jobs. Murrill issued a cease-and-desist letter to CVS on June 12 and announced the launch of an investigation into the messages sent, saying that it violated the Louisiana Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law.

“Abusing patient’s sensitive information to push a political message is completely unethical and manipulative and we will not stand for it,” Landry wrote on X on June 12.

What to know about the lawsuits filed

All three lawsuits claim violations of the Louisiana Unfair Trade Practices Act.

“This month, CVS went too far by sending a politically charged and unethical message to its customers, and we won’t let that go unanswered,” Landry said. “In Louisiana, we refuse to be intimidated by the fear tactics of these middlemen. Our focus remains on lowering drug prices and ensuring a fair, transparent pharmaceutical market.”

The first lawsuit alleges that the text messages urging residents to oppose HB 358 were “inaccurate, misleading, and deceptive.”

“In every respect, CVS’s use of its pharmacy customers’ contact information to send text messages spreading lies to serve its own political agenda of maintaining its anti-competitive economic position—to the obvious detriment of the public interest—creates unethical and deceptive acts, in violation of public policy and established standards of decency,” Murrill’s office said.

A second lawsuit alleges PBM abuse, including that the defendants used their position to prefer high-rebate and high-price drug brands instead of lower-cost choices and retained rebates, admin fees and pricing spreads that should benefit consumers.

The third lawsuit alleges that CVS abuses market power, causing a negative economic impact on independent pharmacists. Other allegations include threatening to remove independents from their network, engaging in spread pricing and opaque and complex contracts.

“CVS is abusing its enormous market power to engage in covert spread pricing to further enrich itself at the expense of the independent pharmacies in its network,” Murrill’s office said.

“The lawsuit provides the state’s view on a ‘properly functioning competitive market,’ however, such a market would not and should not mandate pharmacy higher reimbursement rates to less efficient pharmacies. The result would be an increase in the number of more expensive independent pharmacies and higher costs for consumers. Importantly, CVS Pharmacy remains the lowest cost pharmacy and a critical partner in lowering prescription drug costs for Louisianans,” the CVS spokesperson said.

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