FTC Sued Over July Report Criticizing Pharmacy Middlemen

The agency says pharmacy benefit managers inflate prices to harm consumers and small pharmacies—allegations that Express Scripts calls ‘false and defamatory.’

The headquarters of Express Scripts, one of the largest U.S. pharmacy benefits management companies, in Berkeley, Mo., in 2011. AP Photo/Jeff Roberson

Express Scripts, a major player in the pharmacy benefit management industry, filed a lawsuit on Sept. 17 against the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over its July 2024 interim report on pharmacy benefit managers (PBM), which accuses dominant PBMs of contributing to rising drug prices and harming smaller, independent pharmacies.

The company is seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, claiming that the report is biased and defamatory. The FTC describes PBMs as “middlemen, negotiating the terms and conditions for access to prescription drugs for hundreds of millions of Americans.”