2 Michigan state employers join massive NJ insulin price-fixing lawsuit

The city of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Livingston County, Michigan, have joined a group of local governments, state attorneys general and groups of patients suing manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers over the fact that the kinds of insulin patients prefer to take tend to have a list price of about $300 per month.

Ann Arbor, which is the home to the University of Michigan, and Livingston County, another Michigan community, have joined the other plaintiffs in accusing the drugmakers and PBMs of hurting their self-funded employee and retiree health plans by conspiring to keep the price of insulin high.

They have accused the drugmakers and PBMs of violating federal racketeering laws and other laws.

Representatives for the plaintiffs and the defendants could not immediately be reached for comment.

Related: Big Pharma and pharmacy benefit managers sued for insulin price-fixing

In 2023, the federal courts consolidated the cases, along with others from district courts all across the country, under U.S. District Judge Brian Martinotti and U.S. District Judge Rukhsanah Singh at the U.S. District Court in New Jersey through the multidistrict litigation (MDL) process.

The federal courts use the MDL process to try to combine preliminary proceedings for large waves of related lawsuits.

In August, the New Jersey court put the patient class-action suits against insulin suppliers in one track.

Sponsors of self-funded health plans, like Ann Arbor and Livingston County, go into a separate self-funded payer track.

States and individual patients who have filed their own lawsuits go into a separate track.

All of the plaintiffs say the defendants are using illegal tactics to keep insulin prices high. The defendants contend that the plaintiffs are attacking conspiracies that do not really exist.