Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed a lawsuit July 13 against Express Scripts, one of the country's largest pharmacy benefit managers, accusing it of "silently pocketing millions of dollars in overcharges" on prescription drugs to an Ohio retirement system.
The lawsuit claims Express Scripts repeatedly violated its agreement with the Ohio Highway Patrol Retirement System by "not dealing truthfully, accurately and honestly with it."
"This particular PBM egregiously charged for services it didn't deliver," Mr. Yost said in a news release. "Its repeated breaches cost Ohioans millions, and we want our money back."
The lawsuit claims Express Scripts misclassified generic drugs as brand-name drugs to charge higher prices, failed to meet pricing discounts and dispensing fee guarantees, and overcharged for generics by not adjusting its pricing lists to reflect the lowest available pricing.
A specific amount of damages wasn't sought in the lawsuit, but it requested the judge to order Express Scripts to release its full financial records so they can be examined to see the full extent of the damages to Ohio.
"It's no secret that PBMs have been keeping secret their prescription pricing in order to evade public scrutiny and rake in revenue," Mr. Yost said. "I intend to shed light on their business model and bring true transparency to the process — they need to answer the tough questions and repay what is owed."
A spokesperson for Express Scripts told Becker's the company has no comment on the lawsuit.
Find the full lawsuit here.