New Mississippi Lawsuit Names Pharmacy Benefits Managers for Opioid Epidemic

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The state of Mississippi is suing drug manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers alleging that opioids were over-prescribed.

Attorney General Lynn Fitch, a Republican, filed the suit Thursday in Hinds County Chancery Court in the state capital of Jackson. It names 13 companies as defendants and says they participated in “the worst man-made epidemic in modern medical history.”

Pharmacy benefit managers run prescription drug coverage for clients including health insurers and employers that provide coverage. They help decide which drugs make a plan’s list of covered medications and can determine where patients fill prescriptions.

The Mississippi lawsuit says pharmacy benefit managers “had a central role in facilitating the oversupply of opioids” and that the companies “intentionally inserted themselves into the chain of distribution and dispensing of prescription opioids.”

Opioids have been linked to about 800,000 deaths in the U.S. since 1999, including more than 80,000 annually in recent years, with most of those involving illicitly produced fentanyl.

Drugmakers, wholesalers and pharmacies have been involved in more than 100 settlements of opioid-related lawsuits with state, local and Native American tribal governments over the past decade. The deals could be worth more than $50 billion over nearly two decades and come with requirements for better monitoring of prescriptions and public disclosure of company documents.

Mississippi reached settlements with more than a dozen companies involved in manufacturing, marketing and distributing opioids, including pharmacy chains. The state is set to receive more than $367 million over 18 years.

Fitch said in a statement that she is asking lawmakers to use the money to meet abatement requirements in the settlement agreements, to help the state repair damage from opioids and to mitigate future damage with prevention, treatment and education.