Arkansas Attorney General announces lawsuits against pharmaceutical benefit managers

By Kim Jarrett | The Center Square

In response to the state's opioid crisis, which has claimed hundreds of lives in Arkansas, Attorney General Tim Griffin filed lawsuits against two pharmaceutical benefit managers on Monday.

Optum, Inc. and Express Scripts, Inc., the pharmacy benefit managers, are being sued on the grounds that they were aware of the opioid crisis yet did nothing to stop it.

According to Griffin, "the PBMs profited monetarily from the opioid crisis in Arkansas by striking advantageous contracts with opioid manufacturers while simultaneously forgetting the interests of Arkansans who received prescriptions." "PBMs concentrated on the financial incentives of manufacturer rebates to drive profits at the expense of people, rather than protecting consumers by leveraging data to curb excessive prescriptions."

As per the lawsuit, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated that 546 individuals in Arkansas lost their lives due to opioid overdoses. In 2021, it reached 637, but in 2022, it fell to 617.