Three independent pharmacies have filed separate lawsuits accusing GoodRx, which markets a prescription drug discount card, of conspiring with several pharmacy benefit managers to fix reimbursement fees, the latest skirmish over opaque US pharmaceutical supply chain.

At issue are behind-the-scenes deals involving generic drugs, which account for about 90 percent of prescriptions written in the U.S. and, as a result, represent a lucrative market. The lawsuits allege, however, that GoodRx and some of the largest PBMs coordinated their reimbursement policies in a way that deliberately lowered fees for pharmacies.

The “anti-competitive” tactic helped damage the finances of a growing number of independent pharmacies, according to the lawsuits, which noted that “thousands” of local pharmacies have closed in recent years. The pharmacies have argued that the dispute is one of several reimbursement fees that ultimately favor the pharmacies affiliated with the PBMs themselves.

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