UnitedHealth Group and CVS Health have requested that FTC Chair Lina Khan and Commissioners Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya recuse themselves from the ongoing legal proceedings initiated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against the largest pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) in the United States.
The companies argue that the commissioners have shown bias against PBMs, which they believe compromises the fairness of the legal process.
The FTC's lawsuit, filed in September, accuses the three largest PBMs—CVS Caremark, Cigna-owned Express Scripts, and Optum Rx—of engaging in anticompetitive practices that have led to high insulin prices.
This lawsuit is part of a broader trend of legal challenges against PBMs, reflecting increasing scrutiny and demands for transparency in drug pricing.
The outcomes of these lawsuits could have significant regulatory implications for PBMs and the pharmaceutical industry as a whole.