The lawsuit was filed April 15 in Raleigh Circuit Court against CURERX LLC, also known as Cure Pharmacy of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. The allegations are similar to those filed against David Pharmacy LLC and Rock City Pharmacy LLC, both of Utah, in November.
Morrisey
The lawsuits allege each company obtained personal data from multiple patients and used that information to transfer prescriptions to its pharmacy without the patients’ knowledge or consent, a move that forced the patients to pay a much higher price.
Morrisey said additional lawsuits could be coming as his office continues examining evidence in what could be a much broader case.
“I take these allegations seriously,” Morrisey said in a statement. “When we believe that any company – much less a pharmacy – would take a consumer’s information and use it improperly, we will aggressively try to stop the practice.”
The latest lawsuit seeks an immediate injunction to block Cure Pharmacy’s in-state operation and identify every West Virginia customer. It also seeks a $5,000 fine for each violation of the state’s Consumer Credit and Protection Act. The Utah pharmacies faced identical demands.
The lawsuits allege Cure Pharmacy and its Utah counterparts used forms, surveys and online questionnaires to obtain personal information. Each company allegedly used the data and deception to entice patients to unknowingly transfer prescriptions, after which doctors received faxed transfer forms to the defendant pharmacies.
Patients then received bulk prescriptions they had not ordered. That caused confusion and financial hardships as the defendants failed to maximize the consumers’ health benefits through insurance and state medical programs, the lawsuits allege.
The Cure Pharmacy lawsuit also lists as a defendant the company’s manager and sole member, Chris Rothe of Draper, Utah.
The Cure case has been assigned to Raleigh Circuit Judge John Hutchison.
Raleigh Circuit Court case number: 16-C-230
