CVS Pharmacy, Inc. v. Bostwick
Overview
CVS Pharmacy, Inc. v. Bostwick (Supreme Court of Arizona, Sept. 1, 2021): After a lower court declined to dismiss a southern Arizona hospital’s allegation that drug manufacturers, distributors, and marketers, including CVS Pharmacy, had engaged in a “conspiracy” to “promote the use of opioids,” CVS Pharmacy appealed. Through a variety of different arguments, including negligence claims, the hospital specifically sought to recover unpaid patient care costs and other damages from CVS Pharmacy for its alleged role in the opioid epidemic. The Arizona Supreme Court found that the only way a hospital may recover uncompensated patient care costs from a third-party under these circumstances would be through Arizona’s medical lien statutes, which blocked the hospital’s claim. The court further explained that CVS Pharmacy did not owe any duty to the hospital and directed the trial court to dismiss the hospital’s negligence claims. Read the full decision here.
View all cases in the Judicial Trends in Public Health – November 15, 2021.