The news: Two Wisconsin parents are suing Walgreens and pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) OptumRx, alleging that their son died because the price of his asthma medication became unaffordable. The couple recently filed their lawsuit in federal court in Milwaukee, a year after their son died at age 22.
Diving into the lawsuit: It alleges that the price of the patient’s Advair Diskus prescription inhaler medication spiked from $66 to $539 out-of-pocket without any prior communication of the change. The patient was not able to afford the new price of the medication and left Walgreens pharmacy without it. He instead tried a quick-relief rescue inhaler, but ended up suffering a fatal asthma attack a few days later.