Jury Sides With CVS In $121 Million Drug Overcharge Trial
American retail corporation CVS Pharmacy has been cleared of allegations that it overcharged customers by more than $121 million for generic drugs.
Back in 2015, a group of customers from six states filed a lawsuit against CVS Pharmacy. The group claimed that CVS had overcharged both them and their insurance companies for generic drugs, whilst cash-pay customers were charged low prices through a discount programme. However, on Wednesday, a California federal jury unanimously determined that CVS’s Health Savings Pass programme did not violate statutes across the six states.
The Health Savings Pass programme has proven controversial, with several other insurers also filing lawsuits against CVS. However, no decisions are yet to be made on these suits.
CVS cancelled its Health Savings Pass programme back in 2016 but has since replaced it with a similar programme called the Value Prescription Savings Card. Both of the programmes were designed to support those who are uninsured. Patients can pay a monthly fee, which allows them discounts on generic medications. Each suit filed against CVS claims that the pharmacy used the programmes to purposefully obscure the cost of drugs and fleece specific customers for more money. However, CVS has said the allegations are baseless.
