June 24 (Reuters) - Louisiana Attorney General Liz

Murrill said on Tuesday she had filed three separate lawsuits

against CVS for unfair, deceptive and unlawful practices

"that have harmed Louisiana patients, independent pharmacies,

and the public at large."

The state is seeking both injunctive relief and restitution,

Murrill said on a post on social media platform X.

CVS did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for

comment.

In one of the lawsuits, Murrill alleged that CVS' business

practices with independent pharmacies of Louisiana constituted

unfair competition and were in violation of state regulations.

Murrill in another lawsuit claimed that CVS' pharmacy

benefit management unit, CVS Caremark, "controls multiple,

interlocking stages of the pharmaceutical supply and

reimbursement chain - from insurance to drug pricing, to

pharmacy distribution and dispensing."

Pharmacy benefit managers (PBM) serve as intermediaries,

negotiating prescription drug prices with drugmakers on behalf

of employers and health plans. They also often manage pharmacy

networks and operate mail-order pharmacies.

PBMs' business practices have drawn increasing scrutiny in

recent years from U.S. lawmakers looking to lower drug prices,

state attorneys general and from the Federal Trade Commission,

which released a report earlier this year accusing PBMs of

inflating drug costs.

States across the United States have passed laws seeking to

limit PBMs' influence on drug pricing, including in Arkansas,

where a new state law - set to go into effect next year - bars

PBMs from owning retail pharmacies.

CVS and Cigna's ( CI ) Express Scripts filed lawsuits in May

seeking to overturn the Arkansas state law, saying it puts an

unconstitutional restriction on interstate commerce.

(Reporting by Sneha S K in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel

and Shinjini Ganguli)