(File Photo of a Gavel)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Harrisburg, PA) Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday recently announced a lawsuit against several pharmaceutical companies and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) regarding collusion to manipulate insulin price markets, which increased out-of-pocket costs for Pennsylvanians. 

The Office of Attorney General’s Antitrust Section filed a complaint in the Commonwealth Court this week alleging violations of Pennsylvania’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law, unjust enrichment and civil conspiracy. 

Pharmaceutical manufacturers Eli Lilly and Company, Novo Nordisk Inc., and Sanofi-Aventis US LLC, and numerous PBMs were named defendants, which included CVS Caremark, Express Scripts and Optum RX. 

The lawsuit alleges that the parties conspired to artificially inflate insulin prices by over 1,000 percent.