I got interviewed by the assistant State Attorney today and also got a letter from the actual Attorney General which was very nice. To sum up the whole process so far, not really too much is happening yet. The man I spoke with today could not tell me whether or not there was an actual investigation ongoing from his office or another office, but he did mention several times that his office and several others were very interested in collecting information about CVS/Caremark and their activities.
He mentioned that the whole idea of what they are doing is HUGE, anti-trust Federal and State wise. The attorney I talked to went to pharmacy school before he went to law school so he quite well understood what I was talking about.
I tried to be as objective as possible in my interview and where I didn't know information 1st hand I told him it was something someone had told me or speculation. One thing that really interested him above everything else which he probably already knew from other complaints or from reading what news stories are out on the internet is that the main company, 3M, whose employees are currently having the most problems are afraid to file complaints about their medical plan. It was explained to me by two people that squeaky wheels at 3M have a uncanny knack of getting fired.
The other issue that I brought up to him was that of patient safety, given our widely varying climate controlled temperatures of medicines - especially insulin - is critical to make sure that drugs do not loose potency. This trust in medicine which is given to patients by pharmacists and doctors could be undermined if they are worried that their medicine got to hot or cold.
After a 45 minute talk with him he told me that I may be contacted by other authorities as he conducts his investigation. The fact that this person who is not just some schmuck in the office took that much time with me and told me that others may also want to hear from me tells me that CVS/Caremark may have some explaining to do very soon.
It's all been a good experience for me too because I knew very little about the Attorney General office and now understand a little better what they are there for and what they are able to do. I have some relief now of this issue and now I can relax and wait patiently to see if anything comes of it.
Anthrotainment
7 years ago
3 comments:
I'm glad that you had a chance to speak to someone about this. It must be very gratifying. Way to bring some light to a tough subject! Shine on!
You seem to have a lot of personal frustrations with your competitive situation, and I know the MN AG has long been partial to taking on disliked industries with little evidence other than bad feelings, but I sincerely hope that our government can weed out rumors and personal opinions like yours from the facts of the case before making a decision.
I agree with the last comment that this is my opinion, but big insurance is not quite the same as big tobacco. Also I feel somewhat more justified since the FTC and at least three other state's AG's feel the same way and are investigating CVS/Caremark for a variety of reasons. While I do feel a bit like a little kid tattling "no fair" to his parents at the same time though even big companies need to remember there are rules and they need to be observed.
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