Sixth Circuit Appears Likely to Strike Down Tennessee PBM Law

Tennessee struggled in oral arguments Wednesday to persuade the Sixth Circuit to overturn a lower court ruling that rejected major portions of its law regulating pharmacy benefit managers.

Judges David W. McKeague, Chad A. Readler, and Stephanie Dawkins Davis on the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit appeared critical and confused by the state’s arguments that a district court erred in overturning language governing PBMs’ treatment of pharmacies in a case brought by McKee Foods Corp.

The case could be a harbinger of broader backlash to “any willing pharmacy” rules, a common state law across the US requiring ...