By Steven Allen Adams, The Parkersburg News and Sentinel
CHARLESTON – Alleging that it was the true “architect” of West Virginia’s substance use disorder crisis first fueled by prescription opioids, Attorney General J.B. McCuskey announced a lawsuit against the owners of Express Scripts.
In a press conference Monday morning, McCuskey announced that his office filed a lawsuit against Evernorth Health Inc., formerly known as Express Scripts Holding Company, and other subsidiaries of the large Missouri-based pharmacy benefits management (PBM) company.
“The opioid crisis did not emerge in a vacuum. It was ignited and perpetuated by actors across the entire pharmaceutical supply chain,” McCuskey said. “Manufacturers, distributors, pharmacies, and pharmacy benefit managers – including Express Scripts – each played a pivotal role.
“While opioid manufacturers have correctly drawn much of the public scrutiny, Express Scripts and other pharmacy benefit managers have worked to keep their own roles obscured,” McCuskey continued. “The veil of secrecy behind what these pharmacy benefit managers have done here in West Virginia is finally going to be lifted.”
