Frier Levitt and our co-founding partner, Jonathan Levitt, were featured in a Bloomberg article titled, “CVS Defeat Shows Quiet Ways Drug Middlemen Try to Influence Care” by John Tozzi. The article highlights a significant case with far-reaching implications.
Key Points:
- Case Overview
- CVS Caremark unilaterally recouped payments from New York Cancer & Blood Specialists (NYCBS).
- Caremark penalized oncologists when they held therapy for toxic oral chemotherapy treatment for clinically appropriate reasons. Caremark penalized NYCBS when the oncologists followed the FDA label instructions. Caremark concluded that patients should keep taking toxic cancer therapies even when those patients experienced serious adverse events or the therapy no longer provided any clinical benefit. Caremark improperly withheld $17 million in DIR fees based on these unlawful penalties.
- Legal Outcome
- The $23M+ Arbitration Award, with interest and attorney’s fees, in favor of NYCBS against Caremark and Aetna was later challenged by Caremark in federal court. In July 2024, a federal court judge confirmed the Award in its totality.
- Congressional Attention
- The NYCBS Award and Judge Buchwald’s decision confirming that Award were cited in July 2024 at a Congressional hearing where PBMs faced bipartisan criticism.
- Representative Nick Langworthy (R-NY) stated that “CVS Caremark clearly stood in the way of properly treating cancer patients.”
This case is just one of 19 similar arbitration cases filed by Frier Levitt against CVS in 2023, demonstrating our firm’s commitment to advocating for healthcare providers against unfair PBM behavior.
Read the Bloomberg article here: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-08-15/cvs-defeat-shows-quiet-ways-drug-middlemen-try-to-influence-care?sref=d76K8I5l
Read about Frier Levitt’s Landmark $22M+ trial victory against Caremark HERE.
Link [JL1]
