07:05 AM EDT, 10/10/2024 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates with the FTC's comment in sixth paragraph.)

UnitedHealth Group ( UNH ) and CVS Health ( CVS ) are demanding Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Lina Khan and two other commissioners recuse themselves from a lawsuit accusing the companies of increasing their profit while inflating insulin costs, CNBC reported Wednesday.

The FTC filed a lawsuit against CVS Health's ( CVS ) Caremark, Cigna's ( CI ) ESI, UnitedHealth Group's ( UNH ) Optum, and their respective group purchasing organizations on Sept. 20, alleging they 'abused their economic power by rigging pharmaceutical supply chain competition in their favor, forcing patients to pay more for life-saving medication.'

The companies filed motions calling for the recusals with the FTC late Tuesday. In them, they argue Khan and commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter have publicly expressed 'serious bias' against pharmacy benefit managers, labeling them as 'price gougers' that hold significant control over the pricing and access to drugs like insulin, CNBC reported.

CVS said the statements made by the commissioners indicate they have prejudged the case, violating due process.

"Any judge who made these remarks about a litigant at the outset of a lawsuit would immediately need to recuse for blatant bias," CNBC reported, citing UnitedHealth's ( UNH ) 17-page motion.

The FTC declined to comment.

(Market Chatter news is derived from conversations with market professionals globally. This information is believed to be from reliable sources but may include rumor and speculation. Accuracy is not guaranteed.)

Price: 589.24, Change: -1.98, Percent Change: -0.33