The Critics accuse the companies of driving up the cost of drugs and forcing independent drug stores out of business
When the Federal Trade Commission started to investigate pharmacy benefit managers in 2022, the agency asked the country’s largest PBMs to provide employee data, including names, responsibilities, and contact information.
One of the PBMs responded by mailing the FTC a general company phone book; the agency was expecting organized, detailed information suited to its requests, not a random directory of names.
“That’s the kind of arrogance that we’re dealing with where they just haven’t had to answer questions for so long,” said Representative Jake Auchincloss, a Newton Democrat, who related the anecdote to a recent gathering at Harvard Medical School. “They don’t even know what it feels like anymore to have some scrutiny.”
By Thomas Lee Globe Staff, Updated August 20, 2024, 7:44 a.m.
