Settlements between PBMs, States, indicate need for 'stronger medicine' to address problems, Lazarus writes

A $9.5 million settlement with 28 states announced last week by Express Scripts to resolve allegations that the company had "been pocketing money from pharmaceutical companies to steer patients into name-brand drugs" indicates the need for "some stronger medicine" to address problems in the industry, Los Angeles Times columnist David Lazarus writes.

The settlement followed similar agreements announced by CVS Caremark earlier this year and Medco Health Solutions in 2004, Lazarus writes.

According to Lazarus, state attorneys general alleged that the PBMs, which denied any wrongdoing in the settlements, "enjoyed too-cozy relationships with drug makers that resulted in money changing hands to push favored medicines" and, in some cases, "encouraged patients and their doctors to use preferred medicines but didn't pass along rebates from drug makers in the form of lower co-pays."

The settlements might "introduce some transparency to how" PBMs operate, but "accords won't necessarily change how the business works," Lazarus writes (Lazarus, Los Angeles Times, 6/1).