It seems more correct to say that their real goal was to have a set of "independent" pharmacies (but really not) that would pay high prices for Valeant's drugs

It seems more correct to say that their real goal was to have a set of "independent" pharmacies (but really not) that would pay high prices for Valeant's drugs but still appear to insurers to be doing so because the pharmacies concluded Valeant was the best supplier on its merits, not because they were secretly controlled by Valeant. Seems like someone should be spending time in Club Fed, but won't happen of course.