March 25, 2024
John David Mercer/USA TODAY NETWORK
Eli Lilly makes the insulin KwikPen (pictured above) and other products to manage diabetes. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner has sued the drug manufacturer along with CVS, Optum and others for allegedly inflating the cost of insulin.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner is going after 18 pharmaceutical companies that he says have artificially inflated the cost of a life-saving medication.
Krasner announced Monday that he has sued Eli Lilly, CVS and other health-care companies for colluding to increase the price of insulin. According to the lawsuit, the defendants drove the cost of the diabetes therapy up from roughly $20 per vial in the 1990s to the range of $300 to $700 "to exponentially increase their profits at the expense of health insurance plans and their beneficiaries, as well as uninsured consumers."
"As the district attorney of Philadelphia, I took an oath to seek justice," Krasner said at a news conference Monday. "Justice requires attacking corporations that put profits ahead of the lives and well-being of the people."
People with Type 1 diabetes need to take insulin daily to manage their blood sugar, and many with Type 2 diabetes rely on injections of the hormone as well. The disease is widespread, affecting about 38.4 million people in the United States and 1.1 million Pennsylvanians, including about 14% of adults in Philadelphia. (Krasner is one of them.) Studies have shown that many Americans ration their supply of insulin or skip doses altogether due to the current price tag, which critics say is out of step with production costs. According to experts, a vial of insulin costs just $2-4 to manufacture.
Krasner's lawsuit accuses the named manufacturers, insurance companies and pharmacies of violating the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law (UTPCPL) by engaging in unfair and deceptive business practices. He is asking the court to order the defendants to provide accurate information about insulin pricing and stop violating the UTPCPL, as well as pay up to $1,000 to $3,000 per violation connected to Philadelphia. Other penalties are possible.
The lawsuit arrives after President Biden and a few of the named manufacturers in the suit have already taken steps to reduce the cost of insulin. The Inflation Reduction Act capped insulin costs to $35 per month for seniors on Medicare starting in 2023, the same year that Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi announced they would lower the prices of their insulin products. All three manufacturers, which the district attorney said control roughly 90% of the global insulin supply, are named in the lawsuit.
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