Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrell says she is suing CVS for what she says are "unethical and deceptive practices."
Murrill announced this afternoon that she is filing three different suits against the national pharmacy company and its affiliated companies. One of those suits accuses CVS of improperly using its customers' private data to send text messages urging their customers to call their legislators to voice their opposition to a bill Governor Jeff Landry supported. That bill would have banned pharmacies like CVS from also owning a pharmacy benefit management company.
"It's my belief that CVS did use customer information for the reason that we, including me, received text messages from CVS on the same text chain that we receive prescription information, flu shot information, and other information related to your health care," Murrill said. "They used our information to lobby for their own corporate interests and to scare people to lobby on their behalf."
The other lawsuits accuse CVS of using vertical integration to force small, locally-owned pharmacies out of business and of imposing unfair fees on independent pharmacies.
CVS officials responded to the lawsuit and Murrill's allegations in a statement they released Tuesday afternoon.
"Our communication with CVS customers, patients and members of the community was consistent with the law," the statement, issued by CVS corporate communications executive director Amy Thibault said in that statement. "To be clear, we did not use any Office of Group Benefits member information, and we agree with Governor Landry and Attorney General Murrill that OGB data should not be used for this type of outreach.
"We believe it was important for people to know about a potential disruption to where they get their medicine, whether that is at one of our 119 retail pharmacies in Louisiana, through home delivery, a long-term care pharmacy, or at a specialty pharmacy," Thibault continued. "Our customers were clear: they want access to CVS Pharmacy, and our colleagues were clear: they want to serve their friends, families, and neighbors in Louisiana. Our focus is and remains serving the people of Louisiana: lowering drug costs, providing access to care, and helping improve health. We look forward to working productively with policymakers to continue to make prescription drugs more affordable and accessible and to promote the value of community pharmacy."