CHARLOTTE — The City of Charlotte is suing pharmaceutical companies over inflated insulin prices, alleging they have overpaid millions for the medicine through their employee health plans.
Charlotte officials claimed in the lawsuit that insulin, which costs about $2 to produce, can be sold by manufacturers for as much as $700.
The lawsuit accuses certain drug companies and Pharmacy Benefit Managers of colluding to raise insulin prices, alleging violations of the state’s unfair and deceptive trade practices law.
Gaston and Lincoln Counties filed similar lawsuits earlier this year.
The lawsuit names about a dozen companies as defendants, including major insulin manufacturers.
In response to earlier lawsuits filed by other North Carolina governments, Eli Lilly characterized the lawsuits as “baseless.” Novo Nordisk described the allegations as “meritless.”
Pharmacy Benefit Managers CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, and Optum Rx reported that their members typically pay less than $25, $23, and $18 per month for insulin, indicating their practices do not contribute to high costs for consumers.
Sanofi has stated that its pricing practices have always complied with the law, responding directly to the accusations.
CVS issued the following statement in response:
“Pharmaceutical companies alone are responsible for the prices they set in the marketplace for the products they manufacture. Nothing in our agreements prevents drug manufacturers from lowering the prices of their insulin products and we would welcome such an action. Allegations that we play any role in determining the prices charged by manufacturers for their products are false, and we intend to vigorously defend against this baseless suit.”
Channel 9 Attorney Jason Stoogenke is reaching out to the companies named in the lawsuit to receive updated statements.
WATCH: Two local counties, others sue over price of insulin
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