Becker's Healthcare December 17, 2024
Pharmacy benefit managers were paid by drugmakers, including Purdue Pharma, to keep opioid prescriptions flowing even as overdose deaths soared across the U.S., according to an investigation by The New York Times.
The Dec. 17 report highlighted how Express Scripts, CVS Caremark and Optum Rx, which control access to medications for millions of Americans, negotiated deals with opioid manufacturers to prevent restrictions on painkiller prescriptions in exchange for lucrative rebates.
Between 2003 and 2012, Purdue Pharma paid PBMs roughly $400 million annually to avoid limits on opioid prescriptions, which included measures that could have curtailed overprescribing, such as requiring additional physician justifications or limiting the...
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