<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4CtgjK_1FH9O1Li00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4CtgjK_1FH9O1Li00" width="1920" height="1080" ></figure>LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Twelve independently owned Arkansas pharmacies have joined together in a lawsuit against Express Scripts, one of the nation's three largest pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), alleging the company repeatedly reimbursed them less than what it cost to buy the medicine they dispensed. The petition was filed September 15 in the Circuit Court of St. Louis County, Missouri, where Express Scripts is headquartered, and demands a jury trial.PBMs sit between insurance plans and pharmacies. When a patient hands over a prescription, it's the PBM's system that decides in real time what the pharmacy gets paid.According to the lawsuit, a pharmacy buys and pays for a drug before a patient ever arrives, and once the pharmacist hands the medicine across the counter, the transaction can't be undone. The drug can't be restocked or resold, so when reimbursement comes in below cost, the pharmacy absorbs the loss.Attorney Scott Poynter, who represents the pharmacies, says the imbalance has built up over decades."What it's really coming down to is the PBMs over decades have been underpaying them and nickel-and-diming them to where they are, in many instances, putting our small, independently owned pharmacies out of business," Poynter said.For years, Arkansas has tried to put more limits on PBMs. In 2015, the state passed Act 900, requiring PBMs to reimburse pharmacies at least what they paid to acquire a drug, a law the U.S. Supreme Court upheld unanimously in 2020. But enforcement was left to the Arkansas Insurance Department, and pharmacies themselves couldn't sue. That changed last year, when lawmakers passed Act 990, effective August 5, 2025, giving pharmacies the right to bring their own claims and recover up to $10,000 per violation, plus attorneys' fees and costs."If they were paid below the national cost list, they had a private right of action to bring a claim against the pharmacy benefit manager for each time they were paid below the national cost list, and get a recovery of up to $10,000 per violation," Poynter said.That's the basis for this lawsuit. The pharmacies allege Express Scripts reimbursed them below NADAC, the National Average Drug Acquisition Cost, a federal benchmark published weekly by the Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services that reflects what pharmacies actually pay to acquire each drug. Arkansas law sets NADAC as a floor beneath the ingredient cost of a prescription.The petition said the underpayments happened "not less than tens of thousands of times," across hundreds of drugs, and argues the shortfalls came from Express Scripts' centralized pricing systems rather than isolated errors. "Express Scripts' failure to comply with Arkansas law is not a technological challenge; it is a business decision," the lawsuit states.For each pharmacy, the filing lists the number of prescription claims it says were paid below the legal floor between August 5, 2025 and March 31, 2026, the most recent date the pharmacies had analyzed data. Poynter said the effects reach patients and the communities overall."Number one, patient care is impacted. Number two, the small businesses are impacted negatively, because they just can't operate that way, where they lose money," he said.The lawsuit notes Arkansas has lost more than sixty local drug stores since 2016, and argues that in rural communities the local independent pharmacy is sometimes the only point of access to prescription medicine and pharmacist care. Brandon Achor, an owner of one of the pharmacies listed, said in a statement the legal action is meant "to protect our vulnerable patients' freedom of choice."A spokesperson for Express Scripts told THV11 the company is "committed to reimbursing pharmacies at competitive rates" and will defend itself against the allegations. Express Scripts has not yet filed a response in court, and none of the allegations have been tested or proven.The lawsuit is one front in a longer fight. Poynter told THV11 that the filings are only the beginning."We are working with other clients and pharmacists that we have to get their data together, drill it down, verify it, so that we can go with the next wave," he said.The pharmacies are seeking compensatory damages, statutory damages of up to $10,000 per violation, interest, attorneys' fees and costs, and an injunction requiring lawful reimbursement going forward.Express Scripts and other p-b-m's are also suing Arkansas over a state law passed last year that bars PBMs from operating retail pharmacies.A federal judge blocked the law from taking effect while that trial unfolds.Pharmacies listed in the suit include:<ul><li>Achor Family Pharmacy, LLC</li><li>Brinkley Family Pharmacy, LLC</li><li>Buerkle Drug Management, LLC; </li><li>Family Pharmacy, LLC; Garner family</li><li>GetWell Rx, LLC;</li><li>Mckenney Family Pharmacy, LLC; </li><li>Pharmacy Management, LLC;</li><li>Nashville Family Pharmacy, LLC;</li><li>Palestine Family Pharmacy, LLC;</li><li>Redfield Pharmacy Management, LLC; </li><li>Woodlands Pharmacy Management, LLC;</li></ul><div style="position:relative;width:100%; height:0; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oVlF5rXgpNI?rel=0" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" style="width:100%; height:100%;top:0; left:0; position:absolute"></iframe></div></div></body>

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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Twelve independently owned Arkansas pharmacies have joined together in a lawsuit against Express Scripts, one of the nation's three largest pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), alleging the company repeatedly reimbursed them less than what it cost to buy the medicine they dispensed. The petition was filed...

12 Arkansas pharmacies sue Express Scripts for 'failed reimbursement'

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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Twelve independently owned Arkansas pharmacies have joined together in a lawsuit against Express Scripts, one of the nation's three lar

12 Arkansas pharmacies sue Express Scripts for 'failed reimbursement'

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