California Attorney General sues drugmakers over inflated insulin prices (Salon)

California Attorney General sues drugmakers over inflated insulin prices

California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta sued the six major companies that dominate the U.S. insulin market

By ANGELA HART – SAMANTHA YOUNG

PUBLISHED JANUARY 18, 2023 9:15AM (EST)

(Getty/agrobacter)

California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Thursday sued the six major companies that dominate the U.S. insulin market, ratcheting up the state’s assault on a profitable industry for artificially jacking up prices and making the indispensable drug less accessible for diabetes patients.The 47-page civil complaint alleges three pharmaceutical companies that control the insulin market — Eli Lilly and Co., Sanofi, and Novo Nordisk — are violating California law by unfairly and illegally driving up the cost of the drug. It also targets three distribution middlemen known as pharmacy benefit managers: CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, and OptumRx.

“We’re going to level the playing field and make this life-saving drug more affordable for all who need it, by putting an end to Big Pharma’s big profit scheme,” Bonta said at a news conference after filing the lawsuit in a state court in Los Angeles. “These six companies are complicit in aggressively hiking the list price of insulin, at the expense of patients.”

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