National pharmacy company sues Arkansas over law eliminating PBM pharmacy ownership
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A lawsuit was filed in Little Rock federal court on Thursday to overturn an Arkansas law preventing pharmacy benefit managers from operating pharmacies in the state.
The suit filed by the pharmacy benefit management firm Express Scripts by Evernorth claims that violates the Constitution and federal law. It requests that the court prevent Act 624 from going into effect.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signs bill blocking PBM ownership of pharmacies into law
St. Louis-based Express Scripts is the pharmacy benefit management arm of The Cigna Group, a multinational health care and insurance company. Pharmacy benefits managers act as intermediaries between pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies to set rates, including the compensation amounts paid to pharmacies.
Act 624 prohibits pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) from owning pharmacies in Arkansas.
The lawsuit claims that Act 624 violates the Constitution's Commerce Clause and the Privileges & Immunities Clause. It also states the law violates the Constitution's Attainder Clause, which prevents laws from being passed that punish individuals or groups without a trial.
The lawsuit continues to claim that it interferes with federal law since the act would prevent Express Scripts from honoring its TRICARE contract with the Department of Defense. TRICARE is the health plan, including pharmacy support, for active duty National Guard, reserve, and retired military members and their families.
The suit has multiple plaintiffs under the Express Scripts umbrella and is filed against the state pharmacy board and its members.
CVS shares statement after Arkansas bill restricting PBMs from owning pharmacies is signed into law
Evernorth Health Services Vice President of Pharmacy Practice and pharmacist Susan Peppers said the suit was filed to ensure continued access to care.
'Our family of pharmacies—including Express Scripts Pharmacy, Accredo Specialty Pharmacy and Freedom Fertility Pharmacy—are proud to serve Arkansans, and this law will disrupt their access to the care we provide,' Peppers said. 'If this law takes effect in January, hundreds of thousands of Arkansans will be left scrambling to navigate the forced closure of pharmacies and finding new ways to get their medicines and critical clinical support.'
Peppers continued that Evernorth was doing 'everything we can' to protect Arkansas patients.
Arkansas Attorney General Griffin signs letter asking for federal law to prohibit Pharmacy Benefit Managers from owning pharmacies
Attorney General Tim Griffin, whose office will defend against the case, stated that PBMs hinder access and quality.
'Pharmacy benefit managers wield outsized power to reap massive profits at the expense of consumers,' Griffin said. 'The rise of PBMs as middlemen in the prescription drug market has resulted in patients facing fewer choices, lower quality care, and higher prices.'
Griffin added that PBMs 'leverage their affiliated pharmacies to manipulate prices, corrupt the market, and destroy competition. Through Act 624, Arkansas is standing up to PBMs on behalf of consumers, and I will vigorously defend our law.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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