Express Scripts parent company Cigna alleges the Federal Trade Commission ignored more than 3 million pages of documents the pharmacy provided to investigators.

The complaint, filed by Express Scripts owner Cigna against the FTC and Commissioner Lina Khan, is seeking the retraction of the report, which the company claims is "unfair, biased, erroneous, and defamatory" against the PBM industry and is "seventy-four pages of unsupported innuendo."

The FTC suit targets the three biggest so-called pharmacy benefit managers, UnitedHealth Group's Optum Rx, CVS Health's Caremark and Cigna's Express Scripts.

Cigna Group’s pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts on Tuesday sued the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, alleging that the agency’s July report on the PBM industry was biased and defamatory and asking the court to order the FTC to withdraw the report.

Whether Express Scripts wins its unique defamation lawsuit will depend on whether the PBM can prove the FTC made false statements. But winning the lawsuit may not be what the PBM is looking for.

Express Scripts has filed suit against the Federal Trade Commission, demanding that the agency retract a damning report on the pharmacy benefit management industry. | Express Scripts has filed suit against the Federal Trade Commission,

Express Scripts is suing the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), demanding the retraction of a report it claims is false and harmful to the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) industry.

As the FTC has increasingly prodded PBMs over their role in high drug costs, Express Scripts is fighting back by launching a lawsuit against the agency.

The US-based pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) claims that the FTC’s July 2024 report is riddled with “false and misleading claims” about the PBM industry.

Express Scripts, one of the largest pharmacy benefit managers in the U.S., filed a lawsuit demanding that a recent FTC report on industry middlemen be vacated.