FTC Sues CVS, Cigna, UnitedHealth for Manipulating Insulin Sales

The US Federal Trade Commission sued units of CVS Health Corp., Cigna Group and UnitedHealth Group Inc. on Friday, accusing the drug middlemen of engaging in illegal rebate programs that drove up the price of insulin.

The agency said it filed a complaint in its administrative court alleging that CVS’s Caremark, Cigna’s Express Scripts and UnitedHealth’s Optum Rx accepted money from drugmakers in exchange for keeping lower-cost insulin off their lists of approved drugs. The companies’ affiliated group purchasing organizations — started in recent years to negotiate rebate payments with drugmakers — were also named.

The enforcement action is ...