Taking the Pulse: A Health Care & Life Sciences Video Podcast | Episode 239: Understanding the 340B Pricing Program with Chuck Melendi of Disruptive Dialogue
Understanding Pharmacy Benefit Managers: The PBM Landscape Explained
EpiPen RICO Ruling Opens Door for Private AKS Enforcement
Part Two: The MFN Drug Pricing Rule and the Rebate Rule: Where Do We Go From Here?
Part One: Two new Medicare Drug Pricing Rules in One Day: What are the MFN and the Rebate Drug Pricing Rules?
Drug Pricing Initiatives During the Trump Presidency
In two recent public panels, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) hosted the first of three joint listening sessions mandated by Executive Order No. 14273, Lowering Drug Prices by Once Again...more
On May 15, 2025, a federal jury in Delaware district court determined that Defendant Amgen Inc. (“Amgen”) violated antitrust and tort laws, and awarded $406.8 million in damages to Plaintiff Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc....more
On April 16, 2025, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed into law House Bill 1150, now Act 624 (the Act), making Arkansas the first state in the nation to prohibit pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) from acquiring or...more
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel sued Express Scripts Inc. and Prime Therapeutics LLC, two pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on Monday, April 28, 2025....more
How a common practice for healthcare payers can turn from negotiation tactic to anticompetitive collusion - What is a network rental agreement? Network rental agreements, also known as “network leasing” or “network...more
An Overview of the Executive Order on Lowering Drug Prices - On April 15, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order aimed at reducing prescription drug prices in the United States. This order builds upon...more
This update examines the shifting landscape of healthcare regulation and industry developments in Alabama. It addresses key areas affecting healthcare, such as the ongoing expansion efforts by Alabama providers, significant...more
The last year (and particularly the last few months) of the Biden Administration brought a flurry of activity from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the life sciences space, continuing a yearslong pattern of close...more
On December 11, 2024, a bill was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives that, if enacted, would have substantial implications for pharmacy benefit managers (“PBMs”) and pharmacies across the country. Titled the...more
In the wake of the December 4, 2024 fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO Brian Thompson, questions were raised about insurance claim denial practices. Several news outlets noted that UnitedHealth Group’s profits have been...more
In the days leading up to President Trump’s inauguration, the Biden FTC rushed to initiate major lawsuits and to tie a bow on various antitrust policy efforts. In a series of dissenting statements, the minority Republican...more
On January 14, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Office of Policy Planning released a second Interim Staff Report titled Specialty Generic Drugs: A Growing Profit Center for Vertically Integrated Pharmacy Benefit...more
At a public meeting held on January 15, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) summarized the Second Interim Staff Report (Second Report) stemming from its investigation into pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and their...more
On Jan. 14, Lina Khan chaired what was likely the final open commission meeting of her time as chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and perhaps the final open commission meeting for the foreseeable future....more
In February 2024, a group representing (among others) the Johnson & Johnson Group Health Plan and its component plans (Plaintiffs) sued Johnson & Johnson and The Pension & Benefits Committee of Johnson and Johnson (J&J) over...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently sued the three largest pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) – Caremark Rx, Express Scripts (ESI) and OptumRx – alleging that the PBMs and their related group purchasing organizations...more
The PBM regulatory landscape continues to evolve rapidly at both federal and state levels, making it critical for our clients involved in the PBM space to stay apprised of developments in the industry. Our team actively...more
On June 1, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) released a summary of a workshop jointly held by the agencies in June 2022 titled “Future of...more
After decades of dormancy, enforcement of the Robinson-Patman Act may be making a comeback. In his first public remarks as an FTC Commissioner regarding his views on antitrust enforcement, Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya called...more
The Tenth Circuit recently became the first federal court of appeals to address an antitrust challenge to a relationship central to modern pharmaceutical drug markets: the price negotiations between drug companies and...more
On June 16, 2022, the FTC unanimously voted to issue an enforcement policy statement putting Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) on notice that the payment of rebates and fees by drug manufacturers to PBMs resulting in the...more
On June 14 and 15, 2022, the Department of Justice Antitrust Division (“DOJ”) and the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) hosted a virtual workshop to discuss antitrust analysis of pharmaceutical mergers and anticipated focal...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has launched an inquiry into the largest Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) in the United States, with the goal of scrutinizing the PBMs’ practices and influence on the pharmaceutical...more
Concluding one of the longest merger reviews in history, on September 4, Judge Richard Leon, District Judge for the District of Columbia, issued his final ruling in United States v. CVS Health, approving the proposed...more
On June 4 – 5, 2019, Judge Richard J. Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia held an extraordinary and unprecedented evidentiary hearing to decide whether to enter the proposed Final Judgment in U.S. v....more