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Caremark has agreed to pay $38.5m in a multistate settlement over claims it was deceptive when it encouraged patients to switch prescription drugs.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett said that instead, the pharmacy benefits manager kept rebates and discounts that it should have passed on to patients and employers.
And he added that the group also did not make enough effort to explain to doctors how switching drugs would affect a patients’ costs.
Mr Corbett said: “Caremark was operating against their clients’ interests by retaining rebates and discounts that they were obligated to pass onto their clients.
“This agreement stops the deceptive business practices and takes the necessary steps to protect health plans and patients.”
Under the terms of the settlement, Caremark will have to adopt measures to protect patients when it encourages them to switch drugs, and disclose more information about the effect of such a move.
CVS Caremark, the firm’s parent company, said it entered into the settlement to confirm its commitment to comply with consumer-protection laws.
The $38.5m sum will be be paid to 28 states and Washington, DC.
And the group must pay as much as a further $2.5m to reimburse patients for the cost of switching cholesterol-controlling drugs.
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