Landmark Action Aims to Expose Opaque PBM Practices Driving Up Drug Costs and Threatening Independent Pharmacy Access
TALLAHASSEE, Fla., June 25, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Small Business Pharmacies Aligned for Reform (SPAR) today praised Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier for becoming the first attorney general in the United States to subpoena CVS’s confidential contracts with drug manufacturers, wholesale distributors, and both chain and independent retail pharmacies. The subpoenas represent a historic step toward exposing the secretive pricing and contracting practices of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) that patient advocates and independent pharmacists say have driven up prescription drug costs and jeopardized patients’ access to community pharmacy care.
Image caption: Small business Pharmacies Aligned for Reform (SPAR) is a group of Floridian neighborhood pharmacists and other advocates.
“We appreciate Attorney General Uthmeier for standing up to CVS and the vertically integrated PBMs on behalf of Floridians seeking answers to the continuing problems of ever-increasing price and shrinking patient accessibility to prescription medication,” said Dawn Butterfield, SPAR president. “Floridians are entitled to know and understand how PBM contract terms may affect their access to care and the price they pay at the pharmacy counter.”
“The subpoenas will compel CVS to produce contracts that have never been subject to public scrutiny, including agreements governing drug pricing with manufacturers, wholesaler purchase terms, and the reimbursement and network participation conditions imposed on retail pharmacies,” said Barney Bishop, SPAR’s CEO. “Transparency into these agreements will allow investigators to assess whether CVS’s contracting practices comply with state consumer protection and antitrust law, and whether patients are being harmed by the systemic elimination of independent pharmacy competition.”
“SPAR urges state attorneys general across the country to follow Florida’s lead and examine whether PBM contracting practices in their states are harming patients and independent pharmacies,” Mr. Bishop said.
ABOUT SPAR
Small business Pharmacies Aligned for Reform (SPAR) is a group of Floridian neighborhood pharmacists and other advocates focused stopping anti-competitive practices that PBMs use to short circuit the free market while placing additional burdens on patients and pharmacists. SPAR is committed to championing legislation that promotes neighborhood pharmacies’ ability to continue providing medications and care to the local patients and communities they serve. Learn more: https://www.sparfl.org/
NEWS SOURCE: Florida Small Business Pharmacies Aligned for Reform (SPAR)
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