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The American Society for Pharmacy Law (ASPL) is an organization of attorneys, pharmacists, pharmacist-attorneys and students of pharmacy or law who are interested in the law as it applies to pharmacy, pharmacists, wholesalers, manufacturers, state and federal government and other interested parties.

ASPL is a non-profit which encourages diversity & inclusion with the Society, regardless of differing backgrounds, perspectives, experiences, orientations, origins, and practice settings. The Society embraces participation and diversity as it leads to advancing our purpose: 

  • Furthering knowledge in the law related to pharmacists, pharmacies, the provision of pharmaceutical care, the manufacturing and distribution of drugs, and other food, drug, and medical device policy issues;
  • Communicating accurate legal educational information; and
  • Providing educational opportunities for pharmacists, attorneys, and others who are interested in pharmacy law

Latest News

Patients Before Monopolies Act Reintroduced in Congress

Both the House and Senate have reintroduced the Patients Before Monopolies Act. First introduced in December 2024, if signed into law the bill would force companies that own health insurers or PBMs to divest their pharmacy businesses within three years. In the House, it’s being led by Reps. Diana Harshbarger (R-TN), Jake Auchincloss (D-MA), Greg Landsman (D-OH), Buddy Carter (R-GA), Jerry Nadler (D-NY), and Troy Nehls (R-TX), and in the Senate it’s being led by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Roger Marshall (R-KS), and John Fetterman (D-PA).

The Patients Before Monopolies Act, if signed into law, would:

  • Prohibit a parent company of a PBM or an insurer from owning a pharmacy business;
  • Require that a parent company in violation of the PBM Act divest its pharmacy business within one year of the bill’s enactment;
  • Create automatic penalties if a company fails to divest in a timely manner, including disgorgement of profits and forced sales of assets in the event of noncompliance;
  • Enable the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ), and state attorneys general to bring lawsuits requiring violators of the PBM Act to divest their pharmacy business and disgorge any revenue received during the period of such violation;
  • Enable private parties, including independent pharmacists, to bring lawsuits against violators of the bill, and secure treble damages in successful lawsuits;
  • Direct the FTC to distribute any revenue raised by penalties to harmed communities, including consumers overcharged at vertically integrated pharmacies; and
  • Allow the FTC and DOJ to review and block future actions that would recreate the anticompetitive conditions addressed by the bill or harm the public interest. 

Groups that support this bill include: American Pharmacy Cooperative, Inc; Pharmacists United for Truth and Transparency; Coalition of State Rheumatology Organizations; American Economic Liberties Project; Alliance for Transparent & Affordable Prescriptions; American Pharmacies; and National Community Pharmacists Association.

[RELEASE: Auchincloss, Warren, Harshbarger, Hawley Reintroduce Bipartisan Legislation to Rein in Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), Cut Drug Costs. Office of Rep. Jake Auchincloss 13 May 2026.]