Washington, D.C. – Today, Councilmember David Catania (At-Large), Chairman of the Committee on Health, held an oversight hearing on the trade practices of CVS Caremark. CVS Caremark is the largest retail pharmacy in the District of Columbia. A recent report by the labor group Change to Win outlined a series of risks to public health posed by the company. These include increased costs to health plans, violations of consumer privacy, conflicts of interest, and discriminatory practices.
“Safe, affordable, and effective prescription drugs are critical to the health of District residents,” said Catania. “Given CVS Caremark’s complete domination of the city’s retail pharmacy market, the allegations raised by Change to Win concern me a great deal.”
The report by Change to Win accuses CVS Caremark of:
· Favoring certain drugs over cheaper and equally effective alternatives;
· Switching to favored, more expensive drugs without consulting a patient’s doctor;
· Selling patient’s prescription records to affiliated companies and other health and life insurance companies who can then use it for purposes detrimental to the patient;
· Improperly re-selling returned medications; and
· Selling expired products.
CVS provides prescription services to 1 out of every 2 Americans. Given its market power, engaging in the practices of drug favoring and drug switching can lead to significantly higher costs for both private and public health plans and their members. According to Change to Win, other state pension programs have seen dramatic differences in the cost of prescription drugs between those purchased through CVS Caremark and those purchased through other Pharmacy Benefit Managers. Representatives from CVS Caremark decline to participate in today’s Committee on Health hearing.
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