Government
Cost inflation alleged against N.Y. pharmacy benefit manager
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Aug. 23, 2004
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer in August sued Express Scripts Inc., accusing the nation's third largest pharmacy benefit manager of inflating prescription drug costs for the state's employee health program, the Empire Plan.
The lawsuit alleges that the company inflated generic drug costs, diverted to itself millions of dollars in manufacturer rebates that belonged to the Empire Plan and fraudulently got physicians to switch patients' prescriptions to drugs for which Express Scripts received rebates.
In a statement, Express Scripts said it "strongly denies" the allegations and would "defend itself vigorously." The company said it had saved the state of New York more than $2 billion in drug costs since 1998. Express Scripts said New York had received all the rebates for which it contracted.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/08/23/gvbf0823.htm.
