The FTC on Friday sued the nation's three largest pharmacy benefits managers that negotiate insulin prices, arguing the drug middlemen use practices that boost their profits while "artificially" inflating costs for patients. The suit targets UnitedHealth Group's Optum Rx, CVS Health's Caremark and Cigna's Express Scripts. All are owned by or connected to health insurers and collectively administer about 80% of the nation's prescriptions, according to the FTC. The FTC's lawsuit also includes each PBM's affiliated group purchasing organization, which brokers drug purchases for hospitals and other health-care providers. The agency said it could recommend suing drugmakers Eli Lilly, Sanofi and Novo Nordisk in the future as well over their role in driving up list prices for their insulin products.
