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Managed Health Care
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ARKANSAS SUES DRUGMAKERS, PHARMACY BENEFIT MANAGERS OVER INSULIN COSTS

By Brendan Pierson

2 Min Read

May 11 (Reuters) - 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, Novo Nordisk A/S and Sanofi SA, 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 subsidiary Optum Inc, CVS Health Corp’s CVS Caremark and
Cigna Corp’s 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.

Prices of top-selling insulin products have soared in recent years. According to
a 2021 Congressional report, Eli Lilly had raised the price of its Humalog
1,219% per vial since it launched, Novo Nordisk raised the price of NovoLog 627%
since launch and Sanofi has raised the price of Lantus 715%.

Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge in Wednesday’s lawsuit said that the
PBMs, rather than negotiating lower prices on behalf of patients, have accepted
higher prices in exchange for generous rebates from the drugmakers in order to
enrich themselves, violating an Arkansas law against deceptive business
practices.

At a press conference watched by Reuters via web stream, Rutledge said 50,000
Arkansans were uninsured and diabetic, and that many had been forced to ration
insulin because of the high cost.

Similar lawsuits brought by the state of Minnesota, city of Miami and groups of
drug purchasers are already pending. (Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York
Editing by Marguerita Choy)

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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