House Judiciary Committee to investigate CVS Caremark for potential antitrust violations

Members of the House Judiciary Committee last week announced an investigation of CVS Caremark for potential practices that could limit patient access to innovative services provided by some independent pharmacies. In a letter to CVS Health President and CEO David Joyner, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform and Antitrust, said that large pharmacy benefit managers such as CVS Caremark "can influence independent pharmacies because losing 'in-network' status with one of the large PBMs can mean that an independent pharmacy can no longer afford to serve the community that relies on its services."

Jordan and Massie also noted a subcommittee hearing in September when witnesses were asked if a large PBM could stifle independent pharmacies if they worked with companies that bypass the PBM network. The congressmen said PBMs "likely do have the power to stifle innovation in that way, and in particular, one witness replied that this type of conduct 'probably happens.'"