The FTC was looking for deals that would give drug distributors control

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is calling on the Federal Trade Commission to review recent deals by McKesson and Cardinal Health to buy oncology practices, saying those transactions pose “clear, anticompetitive risks.”

Warren's letter to the FTC highlights how prominent lawmakers continue to support the Biden administration's antitrust regulators, who have targeted health care mergers. For example, to the dismay of companies and the investment banks that advise them, the Justice Department has created a task force specifically dedicated to “identifying and eliminating monopolies and collusive practices” in the health care industry.

McKesson, Cardinal Health and Cencora are the three dominant wholesalers distributing drugs and medical products. But they make it a point not just to act as intermediaries, but also to act as providers of cancer treatment. As with other vertically integrated areas of healthcare, there is great opportunity for profit by being both a buyer and seller of products and services – especially high-priced cancer drugs.