UnitedHealth, CVS, Cigna accuse FTC Chair Khan of ‘serious bias’ against PBMs

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH), CVS Health (NYSE:CVS), and the Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) are asking that FTC Chair Lina Khan and two other commissioners recuse themselves from a case against pharmacy benefit managers, accusing the trio of “serious bias” based on public statements.

Commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter are named in the motions filed the evening of Oct. 8.

The FTC filed suit against UnitedHealth’s Optum Rx, CVS’ Caremark Rx and Cigna’s Express Scripts in late September, accusing the trio of inflating the prices of insulin drugs to boost profits.

By accusing PBMs of being “price gougers,” CVS in its motion said that the three commissioners have already “prejudged this matter” so being involved in the case would be a violation of due process.

“If the opposite of ‘complete fairness’ is ‘blatant bias,’ the Three Commissioners would easily satisfy even that standard,” CVS wrote, CNBC reported.

CVS, which also owns health insurer Aetna, noted that Khan made a 2022 appearance at an event sponsored by the National Community Pharmacist Association, which has been openly critical of PBMs.

“Event participants wore anti-PBM paraphernalia, including pins that vilified PBMs as ‘bloodsuckers’ and shirts depicting PBMs as vampires,” their motion stated, according to Reuters.

Making its case for bias, UnitedHealth in its motion wrote, “Any judge who made these remarks about a litigant at the outset of a lawsuit would immediately need to recuse for blatant bias.”

Referencing statements made by Khan, Cigna wrote in its motion that “she has already made up her mind regarding the key questions at issue in this matter.”