Opinion: The J&J lawsuit should be a wakeup call to the PBM industry — and to companies everywhere
The ongoing legal dispute involving Johnson & Johnson has again thrust the topic of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) into the spotlight. Ann Lewandowski, a J&J employee, sued the company for overpaying for its employees’ prescription drugs through its PBM, Express Scripts, claiming that these overpayments resulted in higher health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket drug costs for employees.
This lawsuit is a significant entrant in the recent groundswell of efforts to shine light on the traditional PBM industry and its opaque pricing structures and outdated evaluation models. It follows on the heels of probes by government regulators and attention from Congress into PBMs’ business practices. In late May, executives from three major PBMs were asked to testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
