CVS improperly used Louisiana customers' personal information when it sent text messages urging them to ask their legislators to oppose a bill that would have affected the company, a new lawsuit claims.
Law firm Broussard, David and Moroux filed the lawsuit last week in St. Martin Parish and is seeking class-action status.
“Patient information is meant for health care, not political manipulation,” attorney Jerome H. Moroux said in a statement. “No one goes to the pharmacy expecting their personal data will be turned into a campaign tool. That crosses a bright ethical and legal line.”
CVS’s communication with customers and patients was consistent with the law, spokesperson Amy Thibault said in a statement.
“Our focus is and remains serving the people of Louisiana: lowering drug costs, providing access to care, and helping improve health,” she said. “We look forward to working productively with policymakers to continue to make prescription drugs more affordable and accessible and to promote the value of community pharmacy.”
House Bill 358, which ultimately failed to pass, would have barred companies from owning both pharmacy benefits managers, or PBMs, and pharmacies. PBMs act as go-betweens for pharmacies, health care plans and drug manufacturers to negotiate lower drug costs.
Supporters of the bill argued it would stop big companies, who they say have too much power over the drug market, from pushing out independent pharmacies.
CVS, which oversees a PBM and a nationwide chain of drugstores, said the bill would have forced it to close its 119 Louisiana stores, affecting about 1 million patients across the state.
The company sent mass texts to customers urging them to contact elected officials because “last-minute legislation in Louisiana threatens to close your CVS pharmacy.” The text warned that medication costs could increase and pharmacists could lose their jobs.
The text drew outrage from Gov. Jeff Landry, who supported the bill, and many lawmakers. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said she was investigating the incident to determine if CVS improperly used customer’s personal information.
The lawsuit filed in St. Martin Parish claims CVS “targeted thousands of Louisiana citizens” with texts and emails that used “alarming, incendiary language to falsely suggest” their health care was in jeopardy. The messages sought to “manipulate and mislead,” the lawsuit claims.
It also alleges the texts targeted elderly and disabled people.
“Our clients felt scared, confused and betrayed,” Moroux said in a statement. “Many thought their medications were in jeopardy. Others felt responsible for their pharmacist’s job security. That kind of emotional manipulation — using confidential health records — is not just wrong, it’s unlawful.”
The decision to send the mass messages was part of a strategy formed by representatives at CVS headquarters in Rhode Island and lobbyists in Baton Rouge, the lawsuit says.
The texts and emails violated the Louisiana Unfair Trade Practices Act for several reasons, including intentionally misleading recipients, using deceptive trade practices to improperly direct unsolicited political messaging and using private health information for impermissible purposes, according to the lawsuit.
The move also violated the Louisiana Pharmacy Practice Act, the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit currently has two named plaintiffs, Dean Angelle and Elizabeth Angelle, but the firm is seeking more, which may be in the “many tens of thousands,” the attorneys wrote in their filing.
