A tracker of major recent lawsuits filed by government and private plaintiffs against Big Medicine for allegedly violating antitrust laws and other harms to patients, providers, health plan sponsors, and workers, among others.
Big Medicine – or monopolistic health insurance conglomerates – dominates the Fortune 20, accounting for at least seven companies and generating more than $1.8 trillion in revenue in 2023. These profits come at the expense of patients, whose outcomes continue to decline, and affordability, as healthcare spending totals more than $14,500 per person annually, among other harms.
Big Medicine has a long history of documented abuses, including violating antitrust laws, denying claims for medically necessary care, squeezing independent pharmacies and physician practices out of business, manipulating data to maximize its profits. This tracker compiles major lawsuits filed by public and private plaintiffs against Big Medicine for a wide range of harms.
Have a lawsuit to add? Email us at info@economicliberties.us.
This data was last updated December 8, 2025.
| Plaintiff | Big Medicine Defendant(s) | Suit | Date Filed | Nature of Suit | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Government | |||||
| State of West Virginia | United Health Group, Optum | 12/08/2025 | West Virginia alleges UnitedHealth/Optum fueled the opioid epidemic by colluding with drug makers to secure favorable, unrestricted formulary placement for opioids in exchange for rebates; blocking safety controls like prior authorization; ignoring its own data showing widespread overprescribing and diversion; and illegally dispensing opioids through its mail-order pharmacy without proper safeguards. | Pending | |
State of Texas | Bristol-Myers Squibb, Sanofi | The State of Texas, et al. v. Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, et al. | 11/20/2025 | Texas alleges that the manufacturers of the antiplatelet drug Plavix knowingly concealed from patients and doctors that Plavix had diminished or no effect for a significant percentage of patients, particularly those who are Black, East Asian, and Pacific Islander, due to genetic factors. The state alleges this deception led to improper prescriptions, put patients at risk, and wasted billions of taxpayer dollars. | Pending |
| State of Louisiana | CVS Caremark | 6/24/2025 | Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill alleges CVS Caremark hurt independent pharmacies through covert spread pricing and imposing exorbitant, unethical fees under threat of being expelled from its network, in violation of state consumer protection law. | Pending | |
State of Louisiana | CVS Caremark | 6/24/2025 | Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill accused CVS Caremark of using its market power to under-reimburse competitors, impose crippling fees, and engage in illegal spread pricing, contributing to over 100 pharmacy closures in the state. | Pending | |
State of Louisiana | CVS Caremark | 6/24/2025 | Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill alleges CVS Caremark sent deceptive, mass text messages to patients — using their customer data — to lobby against a state bill that would have restricted PBM-owned pharmacies. | Pending | |
State of Rhode Island | CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, OptumRx | 5/27/2025 | Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha alleges the “Big Three” PBMs and their Group Purchasing Organizations engaged in an unfair and deceptive practices that artificially inflated prescription drug costs, restricted patient access to medication, and harmed independent pharmacies. | Pending | |
| DOJ | eHealth | United States et al. v. eHealth Inc. et al. | 5/5/2025 | The DOJ joined a whistleblower suit alleging that eHealth, a Medicare Advantage broker affiliated with UnitedHealth Group and other big insurers, knowingly submitted inaccurate enrollment data to inflate Medicare payments. | Pending |
| State of Michigan | Cigna Group, Blue Cross Blue Shield | Michigan v. Express Scripts & Prime Therapeutics | 4/28/2025 | The Michigan attorney general filed an antitrust lawsuit against Cigna Group’s Express Scripts PBM and Blue Cross Blue Shield’s Prime Therapeutics PBM, alleging a 2019-onward conspiracy to fix pharmacy reimbursement rates. The complaint claims the agreement eliminated competition, created pharmacy deserts, and inflated costs. Relief sought includes termination of the alleged agreement and damages. | Pending |
| U.S., 28 states, and D.C. (public) | CVS Health | U.S. et al. v. CVS Health et al. | 4/14/2025 | The DOJ and 28 states joined a whistleblower suit alleging that CVS overcharged state Medicaid programs on prescription drug claims. | Pending |
| State of Oklahoma | CVS Health | State of Oklahoma v. Caremark et al. | 1/21/2025 | The state filed an administrative complaint alleging that CVS Caremark’s below-cost reimbursements violate a new Oklahoma law intended to rein in PBM abuses. | Pending |
| SpecialtyCare | UHG | SpecialtyCare, Inc. et al. v. UnitedHealthcare, Inc. | 12/11/2024 | SpecialtyCare, a clinical facilities provider, sued UHG’s UnitedHealthcare, alleging that the insurer had deliberately delayed mandatory payments for out-of-network services in violation of the federal No Surprises Act. | Dismissed |
| DOJ | UHG | U.S. Department of Justice et al. v. UnitedHealth Group, Inc. and Amedisys, Inc. | 11/12/2024 | The DOJ Antitrust Division, along with attorneys general in Maryland, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York, sued UHG to block its proposed $3.3 billion acquisition of Amedisys, a home health and hospice care provider. The deal would eliminate competition between the two parties, driving up costs for patients who receive home health and hospice care and their insurers while driving down wages and benefits for nurses who provide such care, according to the complaint. | Pending |
| FTC | CVS Health, Cigna Group, and UnitedHealth Group (UHG) | Caremark Rx, Zinc Health Services, et al., In the Matter of (Insulin) | 9/20/2024 | The FTC sued the “Big Three” PBMs –– CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, and UHG’s OptumRx –– and their affiliates for allegedly engaging in anticompetitive and illegal rebating practices that inflate the list price of brand-name insulin drugs and impede patient access to cheaper generic alternatives. | Pending |
| State of Arizona | UHG | State of Arizona v. Optum et al. | 11/22/2023 | Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayers accused PBMs and drug manufacturers of scheming to artificially inflate insulin and other diabetes drugs in violation of state antitrust law. | Pending |
| DOL | UHG | Julie A. Su v. UMR, Inc. | 7/31/2023 | DOL Secretary Julie Su sued UHG’s UMR, a third-party administrator for employer health plans, alleging that UMR improperly denied claims for emergency services and urinary drug screening dating to 2015. UHG agreed to pay more than $20 million to settle the suit in February 2025. | Settled |
| State of Ohio | Asccent Health Services | State of Ohio v. Ascent Health Services et al. | 3/27/2023 | Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost accused PBMs of illegally driving up prescription drug prices in violation of state antitrust law. | Pending |
| DOJ | UHG | U.S. Department of Justice et al. v. UnitedHealth Group, Inc. and Change Healthcare, Inc. | 2/24/2022 | The DOJ, along with attorneys general in Minnesota and New York, unsuccessfully sued UHG to block its acquisition of Change Healthcare, alleging that the proposed $13 billion deal would harm competition in both the commercial health insurance and health insurance claims technology markets. Indeed, after the merger, a cyberattack on Change Healthcare in February 2024 paralyzed the U.S. health care system for weeks, leaving physicians, pharmacies, and patients unable to prescribe, dispense, or access life-saving medications. | Decided |
| State government | UHG | Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. TheMega Life and Health Insurance Company et al. | 12/8/2020 | The Massachusetts attorney general’s office sued three UHG-owned insurance companies for misleading vulnerable consumers looking to purchase traditional health insurance into buying supplemental products “of very limited value,” among other allegations. More than four years later, the court ruled in favor of the state, requiring the defendants to pay more than $165 million in restitution and civil penalties. | Decided |
| Local and state governments | CVS Health, Cigna Group, and UHG | In Re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation | 12/12/2017 | Nearly 200 cities, counties, and states have filed lawsuits against drug manufacturers and distributors, including UHG’s OptumRx, alleging that they violated the Controlled Substances Act, among other federal laws, and contributed to the opioid crisis. A federal panel consolidated the suits into a single multi-district case in late 2017. | Pending |
| Private Plaintiff | |||||
Patient Class Action | Blue Shield, Magellan | Roiz, et al. v. Blue Shield of California Life & Health Insurance Company, et al. | 11/19/2025 | This class claims that Blue Shield and its third-party administrator Magellan, maintain deceptive “ghost networks” for mental health care, with inaccurate directories listing providers who are not in-network, not accepting patients, or unreachable. Plaintiffs claim that they paid for illusory coverage while forced to incur out-of-network costs or forgo care. | Pending |
| Patient Class Action | Blue Cross Blue Shield | 11/14/2025 | Plaintiffs allege that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana failed to safeguard the personal and health information of its customers, leading to a massive data breach from October 2024 to January 2025. The suit claims the insurer knew about the breach for months but failed to notify customers or the state insurance commissioner in a timely manner, violating state contract law, consumer regulations, and their own fiduciary duty. | Pending | |
Sprouts Farmers Market | CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, OptumRx, Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi | Sprouts Farmers Market Inc., et al. V. Eli Lilly and Co., et al. | 10/24/2025 | Supermarket chain Sprouts alleges the “Big Three” PBMs and major insulin manufacturers artificially inflated the cost of insulin by up to 1,000%, forcing self-funded health plans to overpay billions. | Pending |
Employee health plan class action | CVS Caremark | 9/3/2025 | An employee class-action lawsuit accuses CVS Caremark of breaching its fiduciary duties by denying coverage for the weight-loss drug Zepbound in favor of Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy due to a lucrative rebate agreement, overriding physician prescriptions and patient needs. | Pending | |
Rite Aid | McKesson | 8/1/2025 | The bankrupt pharmacy chain accused McKesson, the nation’s largest wholesale drug distributor, of demanding and receiving $90 million in non-ordinary course payments on the eve of its Chapter 11 filing while simultaneously withholding more than $100 million in agreed-upon rebates and credits. | Pending | |
Consumer Class Action | CVS Health | 7/7/2025 | A consumer class-action lawsuit alleges CVS violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by sending unsolicited telemarketing text messages to consumers, including the plaintiff, whose numbers were listed on the National Do Not Call Registry. | Pending | |
| Employee Class Action | CVS Pharmacy | 6/30/2025 | A class-action lawsuit alleges CVS illegally charged employees and their spouses a $300 to $500 tobacco surcharge on its self-funded health plan without providing a reasonable alternative wellness program to avoid the fee, as required by federal law. | Pending | |
Consumer Class Action | Cigna Healthcare | 6/11/2025 | A consumer class-action lawsuit alleges Cigna embedded third-party tracking code from companies like Meta and The Trade Desk on its website, which covertly intercepted and shared users’ private medical information and search queries for targeted advertising, in violation of state privacy and medical confidentiality laws. | Pending | |
Employee Class Action | Cigna Group | 6/10/2025 | An employee class-action lawsuit alleges Cigna breached its fiduciary duties by using more than $17 million in participant forfeiture funds to reduce its own retirement plan contributions. | Pending | |
| Consumer Class Action | CVS Health, Medallia, Criteo | 5/23/2025 | A consumer class-action lawsuit alleges CVS embedded third-party tracking code from marketers Medallia and Criteo on its website, unlawfully intercepting and sharing visitors' personal health information for targeted advertising. | Pending | |
| Holly Hendrickson (private) | UHG | Hendrickson v. UnitedHealth Group Inc. et al. | 5/21/2025 | This private class-action lawsuit alleges that UHG violated federal insurance law and breached fiduciary duties by using more than $19 million in 401(k) plan forfeitures to reduce company expenses instead of participant expenses. | Pending |
Employee Class Action | Cigna Group | Reven et al. v. The Cigna Group 401(k) Plan Retirement Plan Committee | 5/14/2025 | Employee retirement plan participants allege Cigna breached its fiduciary duties by using participant forfeiture funds to reduce company contributions instead of paying plan expenses, and by retaining an underperforming fund that cost participants millions in lost returns. | Pending |
| California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) | UHG | CalPERS v. UnitedHealth Group | 5/14/2024 | In an amended complaint, pensioner plaintiffs allege that UHG executives lied to stockholders about the company’s illegal business practices, including Medicare Advantage upcoding, to artificially inflate the company’s stock price. | Pending |
Shareholder Class Action | UHG | 5/7/2025 | A shareholder class-action lawsuit accuses UHG of making false and misleading statements about the company’s 2025 financial outlook. The suit claims UHG's guidance was unattainable because it relied on aggressive claims-denial practices that UHG was forced to abandon due to public and regulatory scrutiny. | Pending | |
| Ballad Health | UHG | 10/21/2025 | Ballad Health, a rural nonprofit hospital chain, alleged UHG systemically abused its Medicare Advantage program by denying medically necessary claims, delaying payments, and refusing to pay more than $7 million in contracted “bed day” payments. Ballad alleges this is part of a broader UHG scheme to maximize profits at the expense of providers and taxpayers, causing more than $65 million in damages. | Pending | |
Employee Class Action | UHG | 5/21/2025 | A class of employee participants in UHG’s retirement plan alleges the company and its benefits committee breached their fiduciary duties by using more than $19 million in participant forfeiture funds to reduce the company's contribution obligations, rather than to pay plan expenses, costing participants millions. | Pending | |
| Unions | CVS Health, Cigna Group, and UHG | In re: insulin pricing litigation | 1/10/2025 | The Service Employees International Union and two Ohio unions filed nearly identical lawsuits against the largest insulin drug manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) for allegedly engaging in an illegal rebate scheme that inflated list prices. Their complaints mirror a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission against the three largest PBMs in September 2024. | Pending |
| Basel Musharbash (private) | US Anesthesia Partners | Musharbash v. U.S. Anesthesia Partners, Inc. et al. | 1/09/2025 | This private class-action lawsuit alleges U.S. Anesthesia Partners and private-equity firm Welsh Carson monopolized Texas’s anesthesia market via acquisitions, inflating prices for hospital services. The FTC previously filed a similar lawsuit in September 2023; the case is ongoing. | Pending |
| Provider class action | GoodRx | Old Baltimore Pike Apothecary v. GoodRx et al. | 11/1/2024 | In this class-action lawsuit, independent pharmacist plaintiffs allege that GoodRx and certain PBMs, including CVS Caremark and Express Scripts, engaged in a horizontal price-fixing conspiracy in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act. | Pending |
| Provider class action | GoodRx | Keaveny Drug v. GoodRx et al. | 10/30/2024 | In this class-action lawsuit, independent pharmacist plaintiffs allege that GoodRx and certain PBMs, including CVS Caremark and Express Scripts, engaged in a horizontal price-fixing conspiracy in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act. | Pending |
| AIDS Healthcare Foundation | Cigna | AIDS Healthcare Foundation v. Express Scripts et al. | 7/26/2024 | AHF sued Express Scripts, alleging that the second-largest PBM used its monopoly power in Louisiana to foreclose competition among specialty pharmacies, including AHF’s, in violation of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act. | Pending |
| Provider class action | MultiPlan | American Medical Association and Illinois Medical Society v. MultiPlan | 10/24/2024 | Plaintiffs sued MultiPlan, accusing the health data and analytics company, of conspiring with commercial health insurers –– including UHG, CVS Health, and Cigna –– to suppress physician reimbursement rates in violation of federal antitrust laws. | Pending |
| Patient and provider class action | UHG | In re: Change Healthcare, Inc., Customer Data Security Breach Litigation | 6/7/2024 | A federal panel consolidated six class-action lawsuits filed on behalf of patients and healthcare providers against UHG’s Change Healthcare. The suits allege that Change failed to safeguard patient’s personal information and providers’ ability to process insurance claims, both of which were compromised by a February 2024 cyberattack. | Pending |
| Patient class action | Cencora | Keith Wolford v. Cencora | 5/28/2024 | Plaintiffs sued Cencora, the nation’s second-largest wholesale drug distributor, alleging that it had failed to protect personal and health information from a cyberattack, first disclosed in February 2024, that affected more than a quarter million individuals. | Pending |
| Eerie County | CVS Health, Cigna Group, UnitedHealth Group | Erie County v. Eli Lilly et al. | 2/2/2024 | Erie County sued Big Pharma manufacturers and the Big Three PBMs, alleging that they increased the cost of diabetes drugs in violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, among other laws. | Pending |
| Small business class action | UHG | Osterhaus Pharmacy v. UnitedHealth Group et al. | 12/18/2023 | Osterhaus Pharmacy, an independent business in Iowa, filed class action lawsuits against UHG and CVS Health, alleging that the insurance behemoths and their PBMs had illegally clawed back payment to independent pharmacies. | Pending |
| Emanate Health | UHG | Emanate Health et al. v. Optum Health et al. | 11/20/2023 | Emanate Health, a nonprofit California health system, accused UHG’s Optum, the largest employer of physicians in the U.S., of pressuring it not to compete for primary care business and, when Emanate refused, retaliating by cutting off contracts and steering patients away from Emanate providers. | Pending |
| Patient class action | UHG | The Estate of Gene B. Lokken and The Estate of Dale Henry Tetzloff v. UHG et al. | 11/14/2023 | The families of two deceased Medicare Advantage beneficiaries sued UHG and its subsidiary, NaviHealth, an automated care management system, alleging that they used an error-prone algorithm to deny medically necessary rehabilitation care to seniors. | Pending |
| Innovative Health (private) | Biosense Webster | Innovative Health v. Biosense Webster | 10/18/2019 | A California jury found Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Biosense Webster used illegal tying arrangements and other anticompetitive tactics. A federal judge tripled the jury’s $147 million verdict, ordering Biosense to pay $442 million. | Decided |
| Patient class action | Cigna | Kisting-Leung et al. v. Cigna | July 24, 2023 | Plaintiffs sued Cigna, alleging the company had wrongfully denied medical claims using an algorithm in violation of California state law. | Pending |
| Worker class action | UHG | Snyder v. UnitedHealth Group et al. | April 23, 2021 | UHG employees alleged that their employer, UHG, had violated its fiduciary duty by mismanaging an employee retirement plan to preserve a business relationship with Wells Fargo, “a critical customer and financier.” After more than three years of litigation, UHG agreed to a $69 million settlement in December 2024. | Settled |
| Patient class action | UHG | Ryan S. v. UHG et al. | Jul. 11, 2019 | Ryan S., acting on behalf of a class, sued UHG’s UnitedHealthcare, alleging that the health insurer had violated federal behavioral health parity laws by applying a more stringent review process to mental health and substance use disorder claims than to medical and surgical claims. | Pending |