A family in Wisconsin is suing because they believe their relative died from an asthma attack after the cost of his medicine increased from $66 to $539.
Cole Schmidtknecht, 22, has had chronic asthma since he was a baby, according to a case his parents filed on January 21 in a federal court in Wisconsin.
Schmidtknecht took daily doses of Advair Diskus to control his asthma, the lawsuit said. His medication was paid for by the health insurance plan given by his employer, United Health-OptumRx.
According to the civil lawsuit, under the healthcare plan, the Advair Diskus costs no more than $66.86, and can sometimes be as low as $35 when it’s covered.
On January 10, 2024, Schmidtknecht visited a Walgreens pharmacy in Appleton to get a prescription from his doctor filled. According to the lawsuit, he was informed that his insurance would no longer cover the medicine.
Schmidtknecht was informed that the medicine would now cost $539.19 to pay for directly.
The lawsuit noted that OptumRX did not provide Schmidtknecht with a 30-day notice of any changes, as required by Wisconsin law.
“The lawsuit said that he couldn’t ask for special permission because OptumRx changed the classification of his medication, which made it too expensive for him.”
OptumRx said in a statement that the Walgreens pharmacist should have called Schmidtknecht’s doctor “about three other ‘clinically-appropriate alternatives available at a Tier-1 (more affordable) Co-pay,’” the lawsuit said.
On January 28, McClatchy News contacted Walgreens and OptumRX for their comments and is waiting for a reply.
The complaint stated that Walgreens didn’t give Schmidtknecht a generic choice for his medicine and also said there were no cheaper or generic alternatives available.
The case said Schmidtknecht left Walgreens without the medicine he needed.
“For the next five days, Schmidtknecht had a hard time breathing and could only use his old emergency inhaler to help him, since he didn’t have a regular inhaler for daily use,” the lawsuit stated.
The claim stated that he had a serious asthma attack on January 15, 2024. Schmidtknecht’s roommate quickly took him to the hospital, but he became unresponsive and had no pulse in the car, as stated in the lawsuit.
The claim stated that Schmidtknecht never woke up again.
On January 21, Schmidtknecht’s parents removed him from life support, and he passed away.
The Schmidtknechts want a jury trial and money as compensation, as stated in the lawsuit.
The family lawyer of Schmidtknecht told WMTV, “We hope this lawsuit and Cole’s death will make them reflect on their policies and make changes in the future.”
Appleton is about a 30-mile drive southwest of Green Bay.
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