Tim Griffin v. OptumRx, Inc.

── Tim Griffin v. OptumRx, Inc. ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Date: May 06, 2026 Category: General United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________ No. 25-1165 ___________________________ Tim Griffin, Attorney General, State of Arkansas, ex rel, lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellee, v. Optum, Inc., lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant, OptumRx, Inc., lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant - Appellant, OptumInsight Life Sciences, Inc.; Optum Insight, Inc.; UnitedHealth Group, Inc.; Lewin Group, Inc.; EverNorth Health, Inc., lllllllllllllllllllllDefendants, Express Scripts, Inc., lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant - Appellant, Express Scripts Administrators, LLC, lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant, ESI Mail Pharmacy Service, Inc.; Express Scripts Pharmacy, Inc., lllllllllllllllllllllDefendants - Appellants,  Express Scripts Specialty Distribution Services, Inc.; Medco Health Solutions, lllllllllllllllllllllDefendants. ____________ Appeal from United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas - Central ____________ Submitted: November 20, 2025 Filed: May 6, 2026 ____________ Before COLLOTON, Chief Judge, SHEPHERD and ERICKSON, Circuit Judges. ____________ COLLOTON, Chief Judge. The State of Arkansas sued OptumRx, Inc., Express Scripts, Inc., ESI Mail Pharmacy Service, Inc., and Express Scripts Pharmacy, Inc., in Arkansas state court, alleging that the companies were responsible for contributing to an opioid epidemic. The companies removed the case to federal court, but the district court granted the State’s motion to remand to state court. We conclude that removal was proper under the federal officer removal statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1442(a)(1), and therefore reverse the judgment. I. OptumRx, Inc. and Express Scripts, Inc. are pharmacy benefit managers. Pharmacy benefit managers enter into service agreements with their clients—federal and non-federal sponsors of health insurance plans—to administer prescription drug -2- programs. As part of their services, the managers develop formularies, which are lists of prescription drugs covered by a health plan. Central to this process are rebate negotiations conducted between the pharmacy benefit managers and drug manufacturers. Because drugs excluded from a health plan’s formulary must be purchased out-of-pocket by consumers, drug manufacturers seek to have their drugs included on formularies. See Gov’t of Puerto Rico v. Express Scripts, Inc., 119 F.4th 174, 180 (1st Cir. 2024). To further that purpose, manufacturers pay rebates—post-sale discounts calculated based on the number of consumers that fill a prescription for the manufacturer’s drug—and other fees to the managers. Id. The managers keep a portion of the rebates and fees before conveying the remainder to health insurance plans. Id. Pharmacy benefit managers also “serve as intermediaries between prescription- drug plans and the pharmacies that beneficiaries use.” Rutledge v. Pharm. Care Mgmt. Ass’n, 592 U.S. 80, 83-84 (2020). When a beneficiary of a prescription-drug plan attempts to fill a prescription at a pharmacy, the manager determines the beneficiary’s coverage and copayment information. Id. at 84. Essentially, the managers “operate