Case Description
CVS and Anchor each operated pharmacies in the Palisades section of northwest Washington, DC. In March of 2002, CVS acquired Anchor’s customer prescription lists (and certain other assets) and secured Anchor’s agreement to exit the market and refrain from further competition for a number of years. The District of Columbia alleged that this acquisition provided CVS with market power, given the absence of other significant competition in the relevant geographic and product market. The District also alleged that, by virtue of the acquisition, CVS monopolized or attempted to monopolize the market. As a monopolist, the District alleged that CVS would be free to raise the prices of pharmaceutical products charged to consumers without prescription insurance coverage and/or reduce overall quality without the fear of competitive restraint. Following the Court’s denial of CVS’s summary judgment motion, CVS and the District agreed to settle the litigation. (Anchor Pharmacies was dismissed from the case on its motion for summary judgment.) The settlement agreement provided that CVS would pay $350,000 to the Pharmaceutical Resource Center (a non-profit organization which assists low-income District of Columbia residents with the purchase of prescription medications) and $125,000 to the District of Columbia Antitrust Fund. The settlement also contained injunctive relief, including CVS’s agreement to (1) maintain the CVS Palisades pharmacy in the pre-acquisition internally determined CVS price zone (or a price zone with lower aggregate pharmaceutical prices) for a period of three years, and (2) continue providing retail customer delivery service from that pharmacy at current prices for a period of three years.