In March, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed a groundbreaking lawsuit challenging the coercive tactics of the shadowy, modern-day health care mafia known as pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs).
You may not have heard of PBMs before, but they play a critical role in controlling which medications your insurer covers. While that may sound like a relatively minor job, PBMs have become the gatekeepers of the prescription drug industry, exploiting their monopoly power to jack up prices, limit access to affordable medicines, and line their pockets with billions of dollars in profit.
Using behind-the-scenes negotiations and secret deals, this cartel has enriched themselves by extorting patients, pharmacies, and health care providers across the country.
The lawsuit targets Express Scripts and Prime Therapeutics — two of the largest PBMs in the U.S. Together, they control a mysterious and secretive company in Switzerland called Ascent, which Yost alleges is merely a front for a price-fixing conspiracy that would make even the Genovese crime family proud.
