Lake County state's attorney sues insulin manufacturers and sellers
Lake County State's Attorney Eric Rinehart filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the country's leading insulin manufacturers, claiming the companies illegally conspired to artificially increase prices in violation of state laws.
The complaint asserts major insulin producers and sellers have worked together to raise the price of the diabetes treatment from $20 per vial in the 1990s to up to $700 per vial now.
The lawsuit takes aim at major drug manufacturers Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi, as well as pharmaceutical sellers CVS Caremark, Express Scripts and OptumRx.
"These defendants have illegally conspired to unfairly increase their profits. Fair competition and enhanced technology should be driving prices down, but the defendants' scheme raised prices on a drug that is necessary for millions," Rinehart said. "We seek to recover costs that unfairly burdened Lake County as a result of this illegal pricing scheme."
Mike DeAngelis, a spokesman for CVS Health, disputed the conspiracy claims in an email Tuesday evening.
"Pharmaceutical companies alone set the list price for their products," DeAngelis said. "Nothing in our agreements prevents drug manufacturers from lowering the prices of their insulin products and we would welcome such action."
DeAngelis said the company plans to vigorously defend against the complaint.
Daphne Dorsey, a spokeswoman for Eli Lilly, said the allegations in the lawsuit are meritless and that the company's insulin is now available for $35 per month or less.
Allison Schneider, a spokeswoman for Novo Nordisk, said the company cannot comment about ongoing litigation and noted it offers reduced-price insulin for some patients.
Requests for comment from the other defendants were not immediately returned Tuesday.
Lake County's suit comes on the heels of Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul's lawsuit against the same companies in December.
Joining the Lake County state's attorney in the lawsuit is Levin Papantonio Rafferty, a Florida-based personal injury law firm that claims on its website to be investigating cases of insulin overpricing on behalf of government entities and unions. The law firm represented more than 1,000 government agencies in cases related to the opioid epidemic and was on the committee that negotiated more than $50 billion in settlements for defendants, according to its website.