Pharmacy benefits managers, the companies that buy pharmaceuticals for employers and other health-care payers, are in the sights of a Birmingham, Ala., lawyer who already has won multi-million-dollar settlements from HMOs. The lawyer, Archie Lamb, has filed suits against four of the country's biggest pharmacy benefits managers, or PBMs, accusing them of price-fixing and depressing fees paid to pharmacists. PBMs buy pharmaceuticals at bulk discounts and act as middleman between employers, states, and other health-care payers on one hand and the drug industry on the other.
Posted by Editor at October 9, 2003 10:40 AM