Arkansas’s attorney general on Wednesday accused drugmakers and pharmacy benefit managers of colluding to drive up the price of insulin drugs, the latest in a series of lawsuits to take aim at skyrocketing insulin costs.
The lawsuit, filed in Pulaski County, Arkansas state court, targets Eli Lilly and Co LLY.N, Novo Nordisk A/S NOVOb.CO and Sanofi SA SASY.PA, which together make the vast majority of the insulin drugs sold in the United States.
It also names the nation’s leading pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) – UnitedHealth Group Inc UNH.N subsidiary Optum Inc, CVS Health Corp’s CVS.N CVS Caremark and Cigna Corp’s CI.N Express Scripts. PBMs maintain the lists of drugs covered by health insurance plans and negotiate drug prices with manufacturers.
The defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Around 8.4 million of the 37 million people in the United States with diabetes use insulin drugs to control their blood sugar, according to the American Diabetes Association...
Copyright 2022 Reuters.
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