The law firm Hagens Berman is representing people living with diabetes in a class action suit against the ‘Big Three’ insulin makers Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi with the potential to affect any of the 29,000,000 people living with diabetes who take analog insulin.

Those three pharmaceutical giants have been accused of unfairly raising their prices and thus monopolizing the insulin market by the plaintiffs in the case: people with type 1 diabetes. Hagen Berman is a very successful consumer rights firm who has won more than $260 billion in settlements against heavy hitters like pharmaceutical companies and banks.

We recently reported that Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Elijah Cummings had asked the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to look into the same three companies for possible price collusion or what they called, “anticompetitive behavior”. Now the people are taking matters into their own hands.

What is the Case Against the Big Three?

T1International, a UK registered charity which is the equivalent of a non-profit organization in the US, supports people around the world getting access to affordable insulin. They shared in a post that Hagens Berman has investigated the matter and that their data show that “the publicly reported, list prices of Lantus, Levemir, Novolog and Humalog have increased by more than 160% in the last five years, while the prices offered to pharmacy benefit managers stayed constant or even decreased.”

T1International explains that the way it normally works, drug makers typically lower their prices for the pharmacy benefit managers, the middle men between consumers and drug makers. Hagen Berman thinks that when it comes to the insulin brands Lantus, Levemir, Novolog, and Humalog the difference between the list price and the prices the pharmacy benefit managers get offered to pay is “enormous”.

Hagens Berman believes, according to T1International, that this price discrepancy is so great as to be illegal and “harming people living with diabetes in painful and cruel ways.”

People with Diabetes Are Speaking Up

We corresponded with Brittany Gilleland, one of the lead plaintiffs listed in the case and a regular featured blogger living with type 1 diabetes. She wrote that while there is no way of knowing the outcome of the case, “it has been filed due to it being a substantial case against [the three big insulin makers]”. Brittany wrote that if anyone wants to sign up for the case they can do so through this portal. Regardless of case outcome there is never any charge or fee for signing up.

The filed complaint details the reasons why plaintiffs are fighting back:

“Plaintiffs describe going into debt, taking out loans, moving back in with their parents, and quitting school to pay for their insulin. One plaintiff stated that she often turns off the lights and lowers the heat in her house, attempting to keep her electrical bill as low as possible so she can afford her insulin.The stress of this financial burden is all consuming: many plaintiffs describe a constant state of anxiety brought on by their inability to afford the rising insulin prices.’’

The lead counsel on the case, Steve Berman, told T1International that “These patients – plaintiffs in this lawsuit – have suffered physically, financially, and emotionally. But what most people do not know is that the pharmaceutical companies that have demanded higher and higher payments from patients each year actually offer much lower prices to other actors within the healthcare system, actors that control which medications patients take.”

He added that these insulin makers have raised their prices so much that they are able to offer these other actors in the healthcare system a better discount which “serve as a quid pro quo for agreements to funnel patient business towards those drug makers.”

Berman said that they hope to reveal the deceptive behavior of these insulin makers so that they cannot do it anymore and that the “lawsuit seeks to compensate people living with diabetes who have been deeply harmed by the drug companies’ price increases.”

T1International writes that the process for this suit could take years and pharmaceutical companies will try to get the lawsuit dismissed.

We reached out to the three big insulin makers. A spokesperson for Lilly said in an email, “Lilly disagrees with the allegations reported to be in the lawsuit. We conduct business in a manner that ensures compliance with all applicable laws, and we adhere to the highest ethical standards. We do not have any other comment.” A spokesperson for Novo Nordisk said, “We are aware of the complaint and its characterization of the pharmaceutical supply chain. We disagree with the allegations made against the company, and are prepared to vigorously defend the company in this matter. At Novo Nordisk, we have a longstanding commitment to supporting patients’ access to our medicines. Since this is an ongoing litigation, we can’t comment further.” A Sanofi spokesperson wrote, “We do not comment on pending litigation. However, we strongly believe these allegations have no merit and will defend our intellectual property.”

To learn more about how you can support the Hagens Berman case, go here. ​T1International is also continuing to collect more testimony from people around the world who have been impacted by high insulin prices. Visit www.t1international.com to get involved.​