(From the Laurinburg Exchange)
U.S. Rep. Larry Kissell has sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission Chairman requesting an investigation into the merger between CVS and Caremark.
Kissell said he was concerned by reports from local pharmacies and constituents of anti-competitive and deceptive conduct.
Kissell said he wants to know whether the merger of the country’s largest retail pharmacy chain and the largest pharmacy benefits manager has led to significant harm to consumers and small businesses.
“The allegations of deceptive and harmful practices by CVS/Caremark are disturbing, and must be addressed," Kissell said. "We cannot allow a company to manipulate patients and drive local pharmacies out of business. I believe the merger between CVS and Caremark has resulted in a vertically integrated company with the power, incentives and capability to dispose of competitors and harm consumers. I strongly encourage the Federal Trade Commission to investigate this merger and the effects it is having on the market place.”
CVS has more than 6,200 pharmacies nationwide, serving more than 150,000,000 consumers yearly while Caremark manages the pharmacy benefits of more than 130 million people.
Media reports and examples cited by local pharmacies suggest a pattern of dishonest practices by CVS/Caremark. Allegations contained in these reports include: consumers have received letters stating higher co-pays or loss of coverage unless prescriptions are transferred to CVS or Caremark mail order; non-CVS consumers have had their confidential patient records used to fill prescriptions at CVS pharmacies without their knowledge; consumers are being forced to switch from their community pharmacies to CVS or mail-order pharmacy which are unable to serve the specific requirements of specialty prescriptions, causing some patients to change their drug regimes or risk ruining their entire treatment; and consumers have been directed by Caremark-operated Medicare Part D plans to switch their prescriptions to CVS which subsequently results in their plan charged upwards of 3,800% more for a drug than at their local pharmacy – pushing them through the “doughnut hole” gap in the Medicare prescription drug coverage.
Cabarrus County pharmacist, Dr. Joe Moose of Moose Pharmacy, said community pharmacies and their patients are being subjected to questionable business practices on a daily basis because of the information sharing between CVS and Caremark, even though, prior to the merger, the companies contended it wouldn’t occur.
“The FTC needs to conduct a meaningful review of CVS Caremark’s anti-competitive, anti-privacy, and anti-consumer business practices that have transpired as a result of the merger. Either we are witnessing an extraordinary amount of coincidences in North Carolina and around the country or that supposed firewall between the two companies is constantly being breached. As a result pressure is being applied on patients to steer them away from their independent community pharmacies by imposing higher co-pays or other tactics. This must be stopped and only the FTC has the power to make that happen,” said Moose. “Either the CVS Caremark merger needs to be rescinded or real firewalls need to be erected between the two companies to prevent these conflicts of interests from happening anymore. I am glad Congressman Kissell is concerned enough for residents of North Carolina and the nation to push for further investigation of this matter.”