Diabetic Iowans may have paid more for insulin than they should have, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird alleges in a lawsuit announced Thursday, Jan. 29.

Bird claims pharmacy benefit managers and insulin manufacturers have manipulated and inflated the cost of insulin in Iowa. She has filed a lawsuit against 18 companies for an unlawful pricing scheme that goes against the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act, according to a news release.

The lawsuit alleges that pharmacy benefit managers and insulin manufacturers created and participated in a pricing scheme that led to an increase in the price of insulin and increased profits.

“Artificially increasing prices to profit off of people who could die without your product is terrible,” Bird said in the release. “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.”

Around 300,000 diabetics live in Iowa, according to the American Diabetes Association. An estimated 19,000 Iowans are diagnosed with the chronic condition each year.

The lawsuit alleges diabetic Iowans have been overcharged millions of dollars a year and cut off from affordable insulin. The price and lack of access have led some diabetics to underdose, use expired insulin, reuse needles or starve themselves to control their blood sugar levels.

“This behavior is extremely dangerous and can lead to serious complications or even death,” the release said.

Insulin prices in Iowa were listed at $300 to $400 for the same medicine that was sold for less than $5 in other countries, according to the release.

The Attorney General’s Office is seeking confirmation that pharmacy benefit managers and insulin manufacturers have violated Iowa law, to require the cessation of deceptive pricing, and the payment of restitution, damages and reimbursement to affected Iowans, including $40,000 from each company to the state for each violation of the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act.

Bird has requested a jury trial, according to the petition filed by the Attorney General’s Office.

Companies in the lawsuit include Eli Lilly and Co., Novo Nordisk Inc., Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC, Evernor Health, Inc., Express Scripts, Inc., Express Scripts, Administrators, LLC, ESI Mail Pharmacy Service, Inc., Express Scripts Pharmacy, Inc., Medco Health Solutions, Inc., CVS, Health Corporation, CVS Pharmacy, Inc., Caremark Rx, LLC, CaremarkPCS Health, LLC, Caremark, LLC, UnitedHealth, Group, Inc., Optum, Inc., OptumRx, Inc., and OptumInsight, Inc.

Kyle Werner is the breaking news and public safety reporter for the Register. Reach him at kwerner@registermedia.com