Cigna, the owner of one of the top pharmacy benefit managers, is suing the Federal Trade Commission and Commissioner Lina Khan, and asking them to pull a July report that slammed the drug industry middlemen for the “vast control” the regulator claimed they wield over the healthcare sector.
The lawsuit argues that the FTC’s report incorrectly concludes that PBMs inflate drug costs and harm independent pharmacies while ignoring the mountains of documents and data that the PBMs say they provided to the agency for its investigation.
The complaint, filed Tuesday in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, describes the FTC’s report as “unfair, biased, erroneous, and defamatory.” It claims the report harmed the business and reputation of Cigna’s PBM Express Scripts, and asks the court to vacate the report and require that Khan be recused from any agency dealings with the company.
It also called the FTC’s actions “unconstitutional” and said it could harm the health system and result in higher prices for consumers.
Cigna’s aggressive defense comes amid reports that the FTC is planning to sue the biggest PBMs, including Express Scripts, CVS Caremark, and UnitedHealth Group’s Optum Rx, over their tactics for negotiating drug prices. The agency began investigating the PBM sector in 2022. Its July interim report stopped short of calling for breaking up PBMs or limiting their business practices, and instead recommended “further scrutiny and potential regulation.”
The FTC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about Cigna’s lawsuit.
Last month, House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-KY) told the leaders of the three biggest PBMs to correct the testimonies they gave before a July hearing that he said contradicted investigations by the committee and the FTC. CVS has said its PBM president won’t correct his testimony, claiming his statements were accurate.