A not-so-nice article about our PBM....Caremark. They wouldn't do that, would they?

Caremark And Vytorin: A Conflict Of Interest
Source: www.pharmalot.com
June 13th, 2007
By Ed Silverman

Here’s a new twist on formulary preference. Caremark, the big pharmacy benefits manager, is being paid by the Merck/Schering-Plough joint venture to produce newsletters touting Vytorin. But the arrangement isn’t clear without wading through the small print, according to Newsday.

The newsletter states there were changes to Caremark’s formulary for meds with lower co-payments, and devoted more than a quarter-page to Vytorin - one of Caremark’s preferred drugs. Other cholesterol drugs on the list - Lipitor and generic forms of pravastatin and simvistatin - received only brief mention. Hmmm.

Not surprisingly, Caremark spokeswoman Carolyn Castel insisted payments haven’t influenced formulary decisions. But she didn’t explain why Caremark required outside money to pay for the newsletter; she wouldn’t reveal the amount of the payment and declined to explain why Vitorin received prominent display. There’s no “conflict of interest,” she wrote Newsday.

Really? A PBM is supposed to negotiate the best price for a drug on behalf of its clients, not accept additional money to promote one drug instead of another on its formulary. This smells like the same kind of problem that prompted government investigations and lawsuits over allegations of switching and undisclosed rebates.

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