WOONSOCKET – A multi-state task force has launched an investigation into the 2007 merger of CVS Caremark Corp., in a new legal headache for the pharmacy giant.
Florida’s attorney general’s office confirmed that the investigation into the 2007 merger of CVS Corp. and Caremark Rx Inc. is under way, but declined to offer details. The news was first reported by Fortune magazine, which said “several states” are investigating the merger.
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A CVS spokeswoman said the company was unaware of any coordinated probe by states. “Although we respond from time to time to various requests for information sent to us by state agencies, we are not aware of a joint investigation by a group of states,” she told Dow Jones Newswires.
The Federal Trade Commission also began looking into the CVS Caremark merger last August after complaints from independent pharmacists, unions and consumer groups.
Fortune noted that Julie Brill, a former Vermont assistant attorney general who helped lead a multi-state lawsuit against drug and pharmacy-benefit management (PBM) companies including Caremark, was recently confirmed as an FTC commissioner.
Noting the PBM division’s recent problems – notably the announcement last fall that the company had lost $4.8 billion in contracts for 2010 – Fortune declared flatly: “The merger hasn’t been a success.”
Separately, CVS Chairman, President and CEO Thomas M. Ryan told investors Tuesday that the health reform law signed by President Barack Obama “is positive for our company,” MarketWatch reported.
The law means individuals “are going to get coverage – think about what happened with Medicare Part D,” Ryan said at the Barclays Capital Global Healthcare Conference. And “when people have coverage, it’s a benefit for us.”
CVS Caremark Corp. filled nearly 1.3 billion prescriptions in the United States last year, according to its annual report to the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Additional information is available at cvscaremark.com.
