http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Change-Win-Coalition-Launches-National/story.aspx?guid=%7BA435AE0F-DEDF-42C2-9035-7BEE5AA164A0%7D

The big difference between what Knoll did and this instance is that the pharma comapny (Merck) did not have any patient information. As the PBM, CVS Caremark rightfully has access to pharmacy claims data and can legally use it to communicate to physicians regarding individual patients. Of source, this doesn’t answer the question about the clinical value of this particular communication. In the end, assuming that CVS as the employer in this case is responsible for medical and pharmacy costs, it does seem as though the union dispute is at the root of the complaint.

Atlex

This is just a new variation on an old ploy. About 9-10 years ago, the Marketing department at Knoll Pharmaceuticals got ahold of Michigan pharmacy customer mailing lists and pre-emptively tried to warn patients about allowing their Synthroid prescriptions switched to another brand, even though there were no AB rated equivalents at the time. The complaints then poured in to the company over the next week. I know this because I was the “chief complaint receipt officer” at the time although I was not in Marketing.