The Utah Department of Commerce’s Division of Consumer Protection, through the Utah Attorney General’s Office, has filed a lawsuit against some of the nation’s major insulin manufacturers, claiming manufacturers participated in an alleged pricing scheme that makes the drug difficult to acquire for Utahns who suffer from diabetes. The suit says that manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers conspired to inflate the price of insulin up to 1,000 percent over the past decade. It said the money that goes toward treating diabetes in Utah is $1.7 billion each year, one-fourth of the total money spent on healthcare in the state.
The 112-page filing names three manufacturers — Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi, which manufacture most of the insulin and other diabetic medications available in the state — as defendants, along with CVS Caremark, Express Scripts and Optus RX, which serve as pharmacy benefit managers and administer prescription plans.
The lawsuit asks the 3rd District Court to prohibit these companies from violating the Utah Consumer Sales Practices Act and require them to pay damages to consumers and deal with civil penalties for previous law violations.
In a prepared statement after filing the lawsuit, Attorney General Sean Reyes said “unrestrained greed” can’t impact healthcare, and these companies are making billions in profits through the markups.
“Access to affordable insulin is, literally, a life-or-death issue. This is one of the most egregious cases of avarice and inhumanity I have ever seen. It not only violates the law, but is morally repugnant too,” Reyes said.