Insulin

The Arkansas attorney general on May 11 accused drugmakers and pharmacy benefit managers of colluding to drive up the price of insulin drugs, the latest in a series of lawsuits to take aim at skyrocketing costs for the life-sustaining medicine.

CVS

A lawyer for two Ohio counties said CVS Health Corp., Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. and Walmart Inc. should fund an $878 million plan to address the opioid crisis there, as a first-of-its-kind trial got underway to determine the pharmacy chains’ contribution.

Walgreens Boots Alliance reached a $683 million settlement with Florida to resolve claims that the pharmacy chain exacerbated an opioid epidemic in the state.

blister packets

Centene Corp. agreed to divest two pharmacy businesses for about $2.8 billion, in line with the health insurer’s strategy to exit the pharmacy benefit management space.

A recent CVS Health/Morning Consult survey of Americans age 18+ found that mental health concerns are continuing to rise among individuals of all backgrounds, especially Black, age 65+, young adult, and LGBTQIA+ respondents.

hydrocodone

Pharmacy chain Walgreens Boots Alliance and other defendants on April 26 said they were not to blame for the opioid crisis in San Francisco, and that they acted responsibly when providing legal medications to patients in pain.

Johnson & Johnson filed a lawsuit against drug distributors and a pharmacy seeking to stop the sale of counterfeit versions of the company’s HIV drugs, months after a similar case brought by Gilead Sciences Inc.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration is aiming to expand access to COVID-19 oral antiviral treatments like Pfizer Inc.’s Paxlovid by doubling the number of locations at which they are available, the White House said on April 26.

Walgreens Boots Alliance and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. ignored the health risks when they created new markets for opioids, a lawyer for the city of San Francisco told a judge on April 25 during opening statements of the first trial to target manufacturers, distributors and pharmacies over the addictive pain medicines.

San Francisco squared off on April 25 against Walgreens Boots Alliance and three other companies accused of fueling an opioid crisis in the city, the first trial to target manufacturers, distributors and pharmacies over the addictive pain medicines.