Ohio attorney general announces suit against OptumRx

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost on Friday filed a lawsuit against OptumRx Inc., claiming the pharmacy benefits manager overcharged the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation millions of dollars in prescriptions for injured workers, asking for $30 million to cover both overcharges and punitive damages.

The suit, filed in Franklin County Common Pleas Court and made available Monday, alleges that the overcharges occurred because Irvine, California-based OptumRx failed to provide contractually agreed discounts on drugs for the state-run workers comp insurer.

Alleging counts of breach of contract, fraudulent inducement and promissory fraud, the complaint documents a scheme that charged Ohio money — some in the form of “sudden price increases” — it later used to subsidize lower prices for other clients.

Ohio terminated its contract with OptumRx in October, according to the attorney general’s office.

A spokesman for OptumRx provided a statement Monday, calling the allegations “without merit,” stating officials at the PBM “are working with the State to resolve the Bureau's concerns in accordance with the terms of our contract," the statement reads.