Johnson & Johnson Case Signals Employee Drug Price Suits to Come

A novel lawsuit from an employee suing Johnson & Johnson Inc. for allegedly mismanaging drug benefits appears a harbinger of litigation to come against companies, especially those that rely on pharmaceutical industry middlemen to negotiate pricing and rebates.

Ann Lewandowski, a health-care policy and advocacy director for Johnson & Johnson, filed the proposed class action Feb. 5 in US District Court for the District of New Jersey. The suit said the New Jersey-based company mismanages its employee health plan by paying its pharmacy benefit manager, Express Scripts Inc., inflated prices for generic specialty drugs that are widely available at much ...