FTC Case Against Drug Middlemen in Limbo After Trump Firings (1)

President Donald Trump’s move to fire two Democrats on the Federal Trade Commission leaves a question mark over the future of an agency antitrust action alleging pharmacy benefit managers used illegal rebate programs that spiked the price of insulin.

The FTC last September sued units of CVS Health Corp., Cigna Group, and UnitedHealth Group Inc. in its administrative court. The case gained bipartisan support in Washington, with key Republican lawmakers publicly backing it.

Commissioners have ultimate authority over decisions in the FTC’s in-house court. But at the time of their dismissal on March 18, Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca ...