Wisconsin couple sues Walgreens and Optum Rx, saying son died after $500 price rise for asthma meds

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La Crosse, Wis. (AP) – Walgrens and a pharmacy management company, claiming that their son died because he could not bear a height of $ 500 in asthma.

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Shannon and William Schmidantteh, from Buenite, filed a lawsuit at the Federal Court in Milwoki on January 21, a year later their son Cole died at the age of 22.

According to the lawsuit, Cole Schmidkkkht suffered from asthma throughout his life. He was able to do this in daily doses of the ADVAIR tablet and its general rewards, which he was taking through the inhalation system.

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He stopped at the Walgrens Pharmacy in Appleton on January 10, 2024, to re -fill medical prescriptions, and he was told that the cost jumped from $ 66 to $ 539 outside the pocket. Unable to withstand the new cost, leave the pharmacy without the medicine. He tried to manage his condition by inhaling his rescue, but he suffered from the deadly asthma attack a few days later, according to the lawsuit.

Schmidtknechts claims that the Pharmacy Benefits Management Company has violated the Wisconsin law by raising the cost of the drug without a good medical reason and failed to provide a 30 -day prior notice of increasing drug prices.

Managers of pharmacy benefits as mediators between health insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies and a prescription and pharmacies. OPTUM RX Services Prescyncy Prestches for more than 66 million people across the United States, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit claims that the Walgrens Pharmacy employees have failed to provide any solutions to get a usual drug. They told him that there are no cheaper alternatives or general drugs available, they did not contact OPTUMRX to request an exception on behalf of Cole, and they did not ask Cole doctor to ask for an exception to him, as his parents claim.

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The lawsuit seeks to obtain unspecified compensation.

“The behavior of both Optumrx and Walgrens was unfortunate,” Michael Tran said in a statement. “Evidence in this case will appear that both OPTUMRX and Walgrens put profits first, and they are directly responsible for Cole’s death.”

OPTUMRX spokesman did not immediately respond to Wednesday’s messages seeking to get a comment. In a statement last April, the sympathy of the family clarified, the company said that the Cole’s claims showed that the day he visited the pharmacy, he bought a different drug in asthma, alpoterol in general, for paying $ 5 in January. 10 – The company said that the drug that he also obtained in October 2023 was dealt with. Its case was dealt with “consistent with the practice of industry and the design of the patient’s insurance plan.”

Nevertheless, Trunk said on Wednesday that the prescription filled with $ 5 was occupied by Cole to save him, and not a Diskus Diskus that took him daily. He said that Cole was not able to fill the Diskus Advair recipe because it suddenly became very expensive.

Walgreens officials did not immediately respond to an email on Wednesday for a comment on the lawsuit.

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