Young Man Dies In Agony After Price Of His Inhaler Jumps From $66 To $540

A young man tragically lost his life after being unable to afford his life-saving inhaler.

Cole Schmidtknecht, a 22-year-old who had struggled with chronic asthma since childhood, was turned away from getting his inhaler after an unexpected price hike.When he went to pick up his prescription at a Walgreens in Appleton, Wisconsin, on January 10, 2024, he was met with shocking news.The pharmacist informed him that his usual medication, which had cost $66.86, would now require him to pay a staggering $539.19.

This drastic change was due to a policy adjustment by OptumRx in the fall of 2023, which led Walgreens to stop covering his usual prescription under insurance.

Unable to afford the new price, Cole had no choice but to leave the pharmacy empty-handed.For five agonizing days, he fought to breathe, relying only on an old emergency inhaler that offered limited relief.On January 15, 2024, his fight came to a devastating end. He suffered a severe asthma attack that he could not recover from.

When emergency responders arrived, they found Cole unconscious and turning blue.

Cole Schmidtknecht, 22, who had battled chronic asthma since childhood, was denied his life-saving inhaler when he went to collect his prescription at a Walgreens pharmacy in Appleton, Wisconsin on January 10, 2024Facebook

Despite every effort to save him, doctors were unable to revive him.His family made the heartbreaking decision to remove life support on January 21, after it was determined there was no chance of recovery.Now, his devastated loved ones are seeking justice, taking legal action against OptumRx, Walgreens, and Walgreens Boots Alliance.

The pharmacist had informed him that his medication would now cost $539.19 – a shocking increase from his usual cost of $66.86Getty Images

The lawsuit claims negligence and wrongful death, pointing to failures in the system that left Cole without access to his life-saving medication.One key argument is that Cole was not properly informed about the insurance change, which is a direct violation of Wisconsin’s law requiring 30 days’ notice for coverage changes.According to the lawsuit obtained by Newsweek, the pharmacist at Walgreens should have reached out to Cole’s doctor for alternative treatment options, but failed to do so.

The lawsuit states that the pharmacist “never provided Cole with any more affordable workarounds to obtain his usual inhaler for his chronic asthma,”As a result, Cole “repeatedly struggled to breathe, relying solely on his old ‘rescue’ (emergency) inhaler to limit his symptoms, because he did not have a preventative inhaler designed for daily use,”The case will be overseen by U.S. District Judge Byron Browning Conway, who was appointed by President Biden, according to reports from Law and Crime.

This tragedy comes just months after a shocking case in New York, where Luigi Mangione, an Ivy League graduate, was accused of murdering Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, in what prosecutors say was a targeted attack on the insurance industry.

Walgreens had suddenly refused to cover his usual prescription under insurance after OptumRX changed its policy in the fall of 2023Getty Images

Unable to afford it, Cole left the store without his inhaler. For five days, Cole struggled to breathe, using only an emergency inhaler. On Jan. 15, 2024, he suffered a fatal asthma attackPatient Protector

Earlier this month, a damning report shed light on how UnitedHealth Group had been overcharging cancer patients by more than 1,000% for critical medications.The findings from the Federal Trade Commission, which also accused major players like CVS and Cigna of similar price-gouging tactics, come at a time when UHG is reporting record-breaking profits.Despite the controversy surrounding Thompson’s death, UHG’s net income still climbed to $5.54 billion in the final quarter of 2024.

Now, Cole’s family is fighting back, launching a lawsuit against OptumRX, W

While Thompson’s assassination made headlines and briefly impacted UnitedHealthcare’s stock, its parent company, UnitedHealth Group, has since rebounded.The FTC report revealed that the largest pharmacy benefit managers—companies responsible for managing prescription drug benefits for insurance providers—raked in an extra $7.3 billion over five years through inflated drug prices.The report specifically named OptumRx (a subsidiary of UHG), Cigna’s Express Scripts, and CVS Caremark as major contributors to the problem.

“The Big 3 PBMs marked up numerous specialty generic drugs dispensed at their affiliated pharmacies by thousands of percent, and many others by hundreds of percent,” the report stated.

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