Attorney General Brenna Bird Sues Pharmacy Benefit Managers and Insulin Manufacturers over Unlawful Pricing Scheme

DES MOINES—Attorney General Brenna Bird announced today she has filed a lawsuit against 18 Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) and insulin manufacturers asserting they have manipulated and inflated insulin prices to profit at the expense of Iowans using life-sustaining insulin.  

“Artificially increasing prices to profit off of people who could die without your product is terrible,” said Attorney General Bird. “Diabetics in Iowa deserve a free and fair marketplace, not a rigged market increasing the price of their insulin. We are suing so Iowans can afford the medicine they need to live and to prevent pharmacy benefit managers and insulin manufacturers from gaming the system at the expense of vulnerable people.”  

Approximately 300,000 Iowa residents are living with diabetes, and an additional 820,000 Iowa residents have prediabetes.  Today’s lawsuit asserts that PBMs and insulin manufacturers created and participated in an unlawful pricing scheme that led to both a large increase in the price of insulin while simultaneously increasing the profits of PBMs and insulin manufacturers at the expense of Iowans. This lawsuit asserts: 

• Unable to afford the drugs they need to survive, many diabetics in Iowa ration or under-dose their diabetes medications, inject expired insulin, reuse needles, and/or starve themselves to control their blood sugars. This behavior is extremely dangerous and can lead to serious complications or even death. 

The Iowa Attorney General’s office is asking the Court to protect Iowans and enforce state law by: 

• Requiring the PBMs and insulin manufacturers to pay all restitution, damages, reimbursement, and other relief that may be owed to Iowans who were harmed by the unlawful behavior of the PBMs and insulin manufacturers.  

Read the full petition here.  

The list of PBMs and insulin manufacturers being sued is: 

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For More Information:

Jen Green 

jen.green@ag.iowa.gov