Labor unions attack Januvia marketing

An association of US labor unions, Change to Win, has announced a campaign against one of the country's major pharmacy chains over the marketing of the diabetes agent Januvia (sitagliptin), which is manufactured by US drug major Merck & Co. CVS Caremark, the pharmacy benefit manager unit of CVS, is accused of violating patient privacy by the unions through the use of drug claims submitted to the firm in order to identify people with the condition and their physicians.

According to Change to Win, the data were used for a promotional campaign by CVS to encourage doctors to prescribe Januvia, which the Wall Street Journal notes is nearly eight times more expensive than some other diabetes therapies. Merck was identified in the letter as sponsoring the campaign to "help inform physicians about additional treatment options," and a spokesperson for the firm stated that no personal identifying information was provided to the drugmaker at any point in the exercise.