Federal jury rejects consumer class action against CVS over drug prices

A federal jury ruled in favor of CVS Health on Wednesday in a class action brought by consumers who claimed they were overcharged for generic drugs. The plaintiffs sought $121 million in damages, according to a published news report.

The jury took just one day to deliver a verdict. The trial began June 8, according to court records. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers heard the case in the Northern District of California. Corcoran v. CVS Health Corporation, 4:15-cv-03504-YGR (N.D. Cal., filed July 30, 2015).

In his motion for judgment as a matter of law filed on June 14, Craig D. Singer argued the pharmacy's case. The partner with Williams & Connolly LLP in Washington, D.C., said CVS had no liability under state consumer protection laws and that the plaintiffs were entitled to "co-payments no higher than CVS' 'usual and customary' price." He also wrote, "CVS owed no duties to the class members" under its contracts with insurers and that some claims were invalidated by the statute of limitations.

According to an amended complaint filed in 2016, the plaintiffs alleged "a common fraudulent and deceptive pricing scheme by CVS to overcharge customers with third party health care plans on purchases of generic prescription drugs at CVS pharmacies."

"CVS's false and deceptive pricing scheme caused CVS pharmacy customers who purchased generic prescription drugs through third party plans to pay significantly more in co-payments than CVS charges cash-paying customers to purchase the same drugs," wrote Bonny E. Sweeney, the co-chair of the antitrust practice group with Hausfeld LLP, on behalf of named plaintiff Christopher Corcoran and others.

Sweeney submitted a trial brief on Tuesday "to offer evidence of related lawsuits and regulatory actions" and establish "a larger pattern of fraud, trickery and deceit." The company is facing several other cases from insurers over drug prices, and has also been a major participant in opioid litigation.