Eli Lilly settles class-action insulin lawsuit for $13.5M

Eli Lilly and Co. has agreed to pay $13.5 million to settle class-action lawsuit filed six years ago that alleged the Indianapolis-based drugmaker systematically overpriced its insulin.

The settlement covers older insulins in Lilly’s portfolio sold under the brand names Humalog, Humulin, and Basaglar. Those are marketed in the Kwikpen cartridge or vials.

Under the agreement, Lilly also has agreed to continue its cap on out-of-pocket costs for its users at $35 a month for four years.

The settlement agreement was submitted May 26 in federal court in New Jersey. The settlement contains no admission of liability or wrongdoing by Lilly and is subject to class notice and final approval by the court approved by a judge.

Millions of Americans use insulin to treat their diabetes, but the average cost of insulin has nearly tripled over the past decade, according to the American Diabetes Association.

The agreement comes about three months after Lilly, under growing pressure from consumers and the government, announced it was cutting prices by 70% for some of its most commonly prescribed insulins and expanding a program that caps patient out-of-pocket costs at $35 or less a month.

That moves came less than a month after President Biden called on Congress to pass a law placing a universal price cap on insulin for all diabetes patients. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 capped insulin prices for Medicare recipients at $35 per month, but the law did not apply to younger diabetes patients.

Lilly said the settlement agreement would cover all claims, notice costs, settlement administration expenses, and plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees for a nationwide class of Lilly insulin users from 2009 to the present.

“This agreement is a reflection of our continued commitment to close gaps in the U.S. health care system for people with diabetes and follows our recent landmark announcement cutting insulin prices by 70% and enhancing our $35-per-month Lilly Insulin Value Program,” Lilly said in a statement this week to IBJ.

The lawsuit, filed in 2017 by 57 diabetics, accused Lilly and two other insulin makers, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi, of raising insulin sticker prices by more than 150 percent over five years, forcing diabetics to forgo the drug, take less insulin than needed or use expired versions.

The complaint noted that some patients intentionally failed to take proper amounts of insulin to wind up in emergency rooms, where they could get free samples of the drug.

Novo Nordisk and Sanofi have yet to settle the lawsuit.