UnitedHealth Group, CVS Health and Cigna are asking that Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Lina Khan and two other commissioners recuse themselves from a lawsuit accusing the nation's largest pharmacy benefit managers of inflating insulin prices, CNBC reported Oct. 9.
Five things to know:
1. The FTC announced Sept. 20 that it was suing CVS Caremark, UnitedHealth's Optum Rx and Cigna's Express Scripts. In an administrative complaint, the FTC accused the three PBMs of "abus[ing] their economic power by rigging pharmaceutical supply chain competition in their favor." The complaint alleges these PBMs excluded low-cost insulins to achieve higher rebates, thus artificially inflating insulin list prices and hurting patients.
2. In separate motions, UnitedHealth, Cigna and CVS argued that Ms. Khan and FTC Commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter have made public statements that indicate "serious bias" against PBMs, according to the report.
3. The companies said Ms. Khan and the commissioners have incorrectly asserted that PBMs are "price gougers" that hold significant control over the pricing and access to drugs like insulin, according to the report. CVS argued that those statements demonstrate the commissioners have "prejudged this matter" and their participation in the case violates due process.
4. Companies like Amazon and Meta have previously tried unsuccessfully to have Ms. Khan disqualified from cases and investigations, citing concerns about her objectivity, according to the report. Ms. Khan has denied she prejudged any case or set of facts.
5. An FTC spokesperson told Becker's the agency has no comment on the filings.