Tenn. AG warns CVS to stop 'political advocacy' texts

NASHVILLE — Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti is warning CVS Health to stop sending "political advocacy messages" through its pharmacy text program. Skrmetti said the texts appear to exploit personal health information to target consumers, violating state law prohibiting unfair and deceptive business practices. If CVS does not immediately stop the messages, his office will "consider all available enforcement options." "It is in your best interest to stop," Skrmetti wrote to the company president in a Friday letter. "When Tennesseans choose a pharmacy, they place significant trust in that pharmacy to safeguard their most sensitive health information and to use it only as permitted by law and by the individual's clear consent. CVS violated that trust." The messages claim that a state bill, which would require pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to divest pharmacy ownership, would close CVS-owned pharmacies. PBMs are third-party businesses that act as the middlemen between pharmacies, insurance companies and drug manufacturers. They have been highly criticized by lawmakers, researchers and independent pharmacists in recent years for practices that prioritize their own profit. When CVS conducted a similar political texting campaign last year in Louisiana, it triggered a state investigation, lawsuit and eventual $45 million settlement. "Nevertheless, CVS chose to do the same thing in Tennessee," Skrmetti wrote. In a statement emailed to Six Rivers Media, CVS Communications Executive Director Amy Thibault said the company believes it important to let Tennessee customers and patients know about "harmful legislation." "Senate Bill 2040/House Bill 1959… could shutter 134 trusted CVS Pharmacy locations and 25 trusted MinuteClinic locations, potentially disrupting their pharmacy care," the company statement said. "This legislation is bad for Tennessee." Bill sponsor state Sen. Bobby Harshbarger, R-Kingsport, has maintained that it would only require divestment, not closure. The Tennessee Pharmacists Association and the National Community Pharmacists Association, as well as local independent pharmacists, support the bill.