West Virginia has announced that it is suing a health care company for conspiring with opioid manufacturers and pharmacies to contribute to the drug abuse epidemic in the state.
The state accuses Evernorth Health Inc., previously known as Express Scripts Holding Co., and its subsidiaries of negligence, flouting consumer protection laws and other violations in a 134-page federal lawsuit filed Monday in the Northern District of West Virginia.
The lawsuit does not request a specific dollar amount in damages, although West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey suggested that a $1 billion settlement could resolve the lawsuit.
“It’s impossible to put a price on what the opioid crisis has done,” Mr. McCuskey told reporters at a press conference. “Ultimately, I am looking for accountability.”
The lawsuit alleges that Express Scripts, a network pharmacy company, acted as an intermediary between drug manufacturers, pharmacies, and insurers recklessly, prioritizing profit over safety and compliance.
“Rather than using its data analytics capabilities to identify and mitigate the harms of excessive opioid distribution, Express Scripts sold these services to opioid manufacturers, enabling the manufacturers to refine their false, deceptive and misleading marketing strategies to increase opioid sales within the State,” the complaint reads.
Express Scripts is one of the largest pharmacy benefit managers in the country and has an annual revenue of more than $150 billion as of 2023.
The lawsuit says the company maintained an interest in opioid distribution despite concerns about it being financially entrenched in the demand and marketing.
The case is State of West Virginia v. Evernorth Health Inc.
A spokesperson from The Cigna Group, which owns Evernorth Health, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to the Opioid Settlement Funds, West Virginia is set to receive about $1 billion from the opioid epidemic settlement. The money will be disbursed over a 17-year period.
West Virginia had the highest number of overdose deaths per capita of any other state as a result of the opioid epidemic.
