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Pharmaceutical industry made $7.3 billion from drug price hikes

A federal report revealed that the three major pharmaceutical benefit managers inflated costs to generate profits between 2017 and 2022.

Pharmacist ordering off a shelfAFP.

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In recent years, the pharmaceutical industry has notoriously profited from the steady rise in prices of certain generic drugs used to treat diseases like cancer and AIDS.r AIDS.

This was disclosed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which announced in a statement that the three major pharmaceutical benefit managers (PBMs)—Caremark Rx, LLC (CVS), Express Scripts, Inc. (ESI), and OptumRx, Inc. (OptumRx)—generated $7.3 billion in profits between 2017 and 2022.

"The FTC staff’s second interim report finds that the three major pharmacy benefit managers hiked costs for a wide range of lifesaving drugs, including medications to treat heart disease and cancer," said FTC Chairman Lina M. Khan.

"The FTC should keep using its tools to investigate practices that may inflate drug costs, squeeze independent pharmacies, and deprive Americans of affordable, accessible healthcare—and should act swiftly to stop any illegal conduct," Khan added.

These three PBMs are under investigation after the FTC sued them in September for allegedly enticing diabetics to buy more expensive insulin in order to profit more, according to Reuters.

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