Judge enjoins CVS exec from joining Amazon.

Byline: Eric T. Berkman

The CVS Pharmacy corporation was entitled to a preliminary injunction blocking the executive who ran its Caremark retail network from working for Amazon's new online pharmacy, a U.S. District Court judge has decided.

Defendant John Lavin, who oversaw operations of CVS Caremark, a "pharmacy benefits manager" or PBM that negotiates drug prices with retail and mail-order pharmacies on behalf of benefits plans and their subscribers, had a non-competition agreement that barred him from working for a competitor for 18 months should he leave plaintiff CVS.

When Lavin accepted a position with PillPack, Amazon's recently acquired mail-in pharmacy, CVS sought a preliminary injunction, arguing that his work with PillPack would violate the agreement.

Judge John J. McConnell Jr. granted the motion, finding sufficient likelihood that Lavin's move could cause CVS irreparable harm.

"The Court does not grant a preliminary injunction to enforce a non-compete clause lightly," McConnell wrote, calling such a remedy an "extraordinary and drastic" measure under Rhode Island law.

"However here, months after entering an independent stand-alone Agreement (limited to only 18 months post-employment) for which he was well-compensated, Mr. Lavin, a high senior official at CVS with access to very Confidential Information, went to work for a Competitor," McConnell continued. "That is wrong, and CVS is entitled to have the Agreement enforced."

The 20-page decision is CVS Pharmacy, Inc. v. Lavin, Lawyers Weekly No. 52-069-19. The full text of the ruling can be found here.

The attorney for CVS, Michael L. Rosen of Boston, declined to comment other than to say his client was pleased with the decision.

Boston attorney Michael R. Creta represented the defendant and could not be reached for comment prior to deadline.

New opportunity

Lavin first went to work for CVS in the early 1990s. At the time of his departure, he was a senior vice president responsible for leading Caremark and its team of 250 employees.

As a pharmacy benefits manager, Caremark manages prescription benefits for its clients, which include insurance companies, employers, unions and governmental entities that provide such benefits for their policyholders and/or employees.

In that capacity, Caremark negotiates with retail pharmacies to get the best deal for its clients and their subscribers. In addition to Caremark, CVS itself owns and operates thousands of retail pharmacy locations as...

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