The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin on Jan. 21, alleges that Cole Schmidtknecht, 22, died after being unable to afford a $500 spike in cost of his asthma medication, according to court documents obtained by Becker’s.
The Schmidtknechts allege that Mr. Schmidtknecht, who had been managing his asthma with Advair Diskus for years, visited a Walgreens pharmacy on Jan. 10, 2024, to refill his prescription and was told the price had risen from $66 to $539 out of pocket.
When Mr. Schmidtknecht was unable to pay to fill the prescription, the lawsuit claims he left the pharmacy and attempted to manage his condition with a rescue inhaler but suffered a fatal asthma attack days later.
The lawsuit also claims that Optum Rx violated Wisconsin law by raising the cost of the medication without a valid medical reason and failed to provide required advance notice of the price increase.
Additionally, the Schmidtknechts allege Walgreens staff did not offer alternative solutions or contact Optum Rx for an exception to the price hike. They seek damages in excess of $75,000.
Optum Rx declined Becker’s request for comment. Walgreens has not responded to Becker’s request for comment.
