California's attorney general has accused pharmaceutical companies and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) of engaging in deceptive business practices that have driven up the cost of insulin for California consumers, according to a recent lawsuit.
Attorney General Rob Bonta filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court last month against the biggest insulin makers in the nation – Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi – alleging that the companies and PBMs have overcharged diabetes patients for the life-sustaining drug.
“Inexplicably, list prices for insulin have risen several hundred percent over the last two decades,” the lawsuit states. “Today, California diabetics who require insulin to survive and who are exposed to insulin’s full price, such as uninsured consumers and consumers with high deductible insurance plans, pay thousands of dollars per year for insulin.”
The legal complaint alleges the drug manufacturer defendants inflated the cost of insulin to artificially high levels through coordinated actions. In addition, the PBM defendants allegedly have received covert rebates from drug makers in return for favorable placement of the drug within health insurance plans.
“Defendants’ actions … constitute unlawful, unfair and deceptive acts and practices prohibited by the Unfair Competition Law (UCL), Business and Professions Code section 17200, and have unjustly enriched defendants at the people’s expense,” the complaint says.
Eli Lilly, however, expressed disappointment at the attorney general’s actions and said the allegations are not true.
“The lawsuit ignores that anyone is eligible to purchase their monthly prescription of Lilly insulin for $35 or less, whether they are uninsured or use commercial insurance, Medicaid or a participating Medicare Part D plan,” the company said in a statement emailed to the Southern California Record. “And the average monthly out-of-pocket cost for Lilly insulin is $21.80, a 44% decrease over the last five years.”
The company has taken steps to lower insulin prices, according to the statement.
“We also lowered the list price of our non-branded insulin to 70% off of the price of its branded counterpart (Humalog) – bringing the list price down to 2008 levels,” the company said.
Eli Lilly said anyone paying more than $35 per month for Eli Lilly insulin should call the Lilly Diabetes Solution Center at 833-808-1234 or find help on the center’s website.