Editor’s note: The recent CVS Caremark decision to exclude Eliquis® (apixaban) from its Preferred Drug List raises critical patient safety issues about whether CVS is illegally practicing medicine and whether CVS actually cares about the patients it professes to serve. In this opinion piece, Michael Wong, JD (Founder & Executive Director, Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety) discusses these critical patient safety issues and asks patients and clinicians to let CVS know how they feel through two online petitions.
For an update on this issue and how you can voice your concerns to the FTC (Federal Trade Commission), please go to the PPAHS blog for March 22.
PPAHS understands that as of July 1, 2022, CVS Caremark will add apixaban (Eliquis®) back to its formulary, reversing its decision to non-medically switch thousands of patients using direct oral anticoagulants. Please follow our blog for updates on this issue.
By Michael Wong, JD (Founder & Executive Director, Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety)
Is CVS Caremark Illegally Practicing Medicine?
Beginning in 2022, CVS Caremark (part of CVS Health) has excluded Eliquis® (apixaban) from the CVS Caremark Preferred Drug List. Eliquis is “indicated to reduce the risk of stroke and systemic embolism in patients with NVAF. Eliquis is indicated for the treatment of DVT [deep vein thrombosis] and PE [pulmonary embolism], and to reduce the risk of recurrent DVT and PE following initial therapy.” Eliquis is a Factor Xa inhibitor and is a Direct Oral Anticoagulant (DOAC).
Continue reading “CVS Caremark Formulary Exclusion of Eliquis is a Patient Safety Risk”