FTC sues drug brokers over insulin pricing and tells others to do the same

“Millions of Americans with diabetes need insulin to survive, yet for many of these vulnerable patients, the cost of insulin medications has skyrocketed over the past decade, in part due to powerful PBMs and their greed,” Rahul Rao, deputy director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition, said in a statement. “Caremark, ESI and Optum – as drug gatekeepers – have extorted millions of dollars off the backs of patients in need of life-saving medications. The FTC's administrative action is designed to put an end to the exploitative behavior of the three major PBMs and is an important step toward repairing a broken system – a repair that could have implications beyond the insulin market and restore healthy competition to lower drug prices for consumers.”

In its statement, the FTC tracked U.S. insulin prices over the years. In 1999, for example, the average list price for a brand-name insulin from Eli Lilly was $21. However, by 2017, the list price for the same drug rose to $274.

In a separate statement on the FTC's website, Rao noted that the agency is also closely monitoring the role of insulin manufacturers such as Eli Lilly, Sanofi and Novo Nordisk in this trend.

“Although not named in this case, all drug manufacturers should be aware that their involvement in the type of conduct challenged here can raise serious concerns and potentially result in significant harm to consumers. In addition, the Bureau of Competition reserves the right to name drug manufacturers as defendants in future enforcement actions for similar conduct,” Rao said.

The latest step in the ongoing battle between the FTC and PBMs

This lawsuit is the latest chapter in an already heated feud between the FTC and PBMs. On Sept. 17, for example, Express Scripts filed its own lawsuit against the FTC, asking the agency to remove a report that Express Scripts said was full of “false and misleading claims about the PBM industry.”

“We do not take this step lightly, but as advocates of lower drug prices for millions of Americans, and as the employers, unions and government agencies that provide them with prescription drug benefits, we cannot tolerate the FTC's unlawful actions and false information,” Andrea Nelson, general counsel for Cigna Group, said in a statement.

The FTC's report, released in July, was 73 pages long and contained a long list of complaints about the way PBMs operate in the United States. Again, rising insulin prices were a major concern in the report.