NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Blink Health, the technology company solving America’s prescription drug price crisis, announces new legal claims accusing MedImpact of blocking consumer access to affordable prescription drugs and also of facilitating illegal access to opioids.
The federal court filing alleges that MedImpact contributes to the nation's devastating opioid crisis by intentionally enabling people addicted to opioids to obtain such drugs through anonymous, untraceable prescriptions. This scheme enables the fulfillment of multiple simultaneous prescriptions in excess of any amounts intended by physicians.
The court filing also sheds light on the unlawful methods used by MedImpact to block consumer access to the best prices for prescription drugs by improperly preventing large pharmacy chains from serving Blink Health customers.
"We are facing twin health care crises in the growing opioid addiction epidemic and skyrocketing prescription drug prices. MedImpact plays a starring role in exacerbating these urgent problems," said Orin Snyder of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, the attorney for Blink Health.
“Americans families are struggling to afford the medications they need. This broken system can only exist because of middleman like MedImpact that operate in the shadows outside of public scrutiny," said Geoffrey Chaiken, CEO and co-founder of Blink Health.
“I have witnessed the devastating effect of generic opioid abuse on families and communities throughout the country. We are fully committed to shining a light on the culprits profiting from this crisis and ensuring that MedImpact and other parties responsible will be held accountable,” said Kelly Ayotte, former U.S. Senator and New Hampshire Attorney General and current Blink Health Advisory Board Member.
The complaint for the first time exposes the deceptive, anti-consumer and anti-competitive business practices that MedImpact uses to preserve the status quo and pad its profits, such as how MedImpact:
- Peddles opioids by encouraging untraceable and anonymous transactions, obtaining half its profits from “cash discount cards” that are actually the "key card" to the opioid and controlled substance addiction epidemic in this country
- Engages in undisclosed conflicts of interest with business partners
- Profits from misleadingly labeled “cash discount cards” that are actually a deceptive vehicle for overcharging middle-class Americans for generic drugs sold at inflated prices
- Knowingly submits improper claims to branded manufacturers for rebates which it then pockets, thereby driving up the cost of branded medications for all Americans
- Manipulates pharmacies into improper clawback payments that pad MedImpact's profits while forcing the pharmacies to lose money on sales
Blink Health represents an existential threat to the embedded practice of overcharging consumers and the sinister peddling of opioids and other controlled substances. MedImpact is determined to block innovators such as Blink Health from creating programs that provide up to 100% of discounts directly to patients, which would dramatically reduce their out-of-pocket costs.
Blink Health bypasses the established industry system and provides everyone access to lower prices for prescription drugs by eliminating unnecessary administrative costs and middlemen like MedImpact and their excessive profits. Blink Health patients simply pay the discounted prices for their medications online and then go to local pharmacies to pick up their prescriptions.
In addition to providing consumers transparency in the notoriously opaque prescription drug marketplace, Blink Health also ensures, for the first time, that pharmacies receive transparent reimbursement before they dispense medications.
About Blink Health
Blink Health makes prescriptions affordable for everyone with the guaranteed lowest prices on nearly all generic medications commonly prescribed. Blink Health is not insurance. As the first e-commerce service of its kind, Blink Health negotiates directly with prescription medication suppliers on behalf of all Americans and uses technology to bypass powerful intermediaries. Patients simply purchase their medications on Blink’s website or app and pick up their prescriptions at local pharmacies.
