UnitedHealth, CVS Fend Off Antitrust Lawsuit Over Drug Costs

A trio of health companies dodged a class action accusing them of colluding on prescription drug prices through their ownership of pharmacy benefit managers and pharmacies.

Plaintiffs Skye Clements, the Iberia Parish School Board, and the City of Laurel, Miss., alleged that CVS Health Corp., Evernorth Health Inc., and UnitedHealth Group Inc. violated the Sherman Act by conspiring to retain drug manufacturer rebates and steer patients to wholly owned pharmacies in order to increase profits.

But the US District Court for the Western District of Missouri ruled for the companies Tuesday, saying their business practices were not similar enough to prove they violated antitrust law. While the companies each created an overseas group purchasing organization in recent years, for example, they did so over the span of three years.

“Therefore, the fact that each of the Defendants engaged in separate, although similar, business practices over several years is not enough to support Plaintiffs’ antitrust claims,” Judge Beth Phillips wrote in her opinion.

The lawsuit’s dismissal deals another blow to plaintiffs looking for legal cracks in how vertically integrated health-care giants control patient pricing and access for prescription drugs. A separate string of cases alleging major employers failed to negotiate better costs as fiduciaries under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act has also struggled to gain traction in the courts.

Phillips also concluded the plaintiffs lacked standing to sue under the Robinson-Patman Act because it was not designed to address cases over inflated prices.

An attorney for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The plaintiffs are represented by Sharp Law LLP, Burns Charest LLP, Zimmerman Reed PLLP, Gustafson Gluek PLLC, and Steven Williams Law PC.

The PBMs are represented by Spencer Fane LLP, Williams & Connolly, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, Husch Blackwell LLP, and Hinkle Law Firm LLC.

The case is Clements v. CVS Health Corp., W.D. Mo., No. 4:25-cv-00126, opinion filed 1/20/26.