CVS, UnitedHealth, Others Must Defend EpiPen Pricing Suit

CVS Health Corp. UnitedHealth Group Inc., and other insurers will have to defend a lawsuit challenging how pharmacy benefit managers price EpiPens, a common treatment for allergic reactions.

The insureds who last year sued the nation’s largest pharmacy benefit managers—including Caremark, Express Scripts, Optum, and Prime Therapeutics LLC—over EpiPen’s pricing scheme have alleged sufficient facts to establish their right to bring the lawsuit under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, a federal judge in Minnesota held Oct. 26.

PBMs act as intermediaries between health insurance companies and drug companies. The PBMs in this case control more than 80 percent of ...