Wisconsin man dies after sudden asthma medication price hike
- Cole Schmidtknecht, a young Wisconsin man, faced a drastic increase in his asthma medication price, which he could not afford.
- After leaving the pharmacy without his usual inhaler, he suffered a severe asthma attack days later and was later pronounced dead.
- His family is now suing Walgreens and OptumRx, blaming both companies for negligence in handling medication pricing and availability.
In January 2024, a 22-year-old man named Cole Schmidtknecht from Poynette, Wisconsin, faced a life-threatening situation due to an unexpected spike in the cost of his asthma medication. For years, Cole took Advair Diskus to manage his condition, but on January 10, 2024, when he visited a Walgreens pharmacy to refill his prescription, he found that the price had jumped from $66 to $539.19, an increase of nearly $500 that he could not afford. This dramatic price change occurred after OptumRx, a subsidiary of United Health Group, ceased coverage for the inhaler he had been using for a decade without prior notice to him or his family. The pharmacy did not offer any alternative options or generics and failed to contact his insurance provider for an exception on his behalf. Consequently, Cole left the pharmacy without his medication, and in the days that followed, he struggled to control his asthma using only his rescue inhaler. Tragically, on January 15, 2024, he suffered a severe asthma attack while being driven to the emergency room and lost consciousness before arriving. Despite receiving CPR at the hospital, he remained unresponsive and was declared dead six days later on January 21, 2024, after life support was withdrawn. His parents, Shanon and William Schmidtknecht, filed a lawsuit against Walgreens and OptumRx, claiming negligence and alleging that the companies failed to provide adequate care by allowing the price of necessary medication to increase without justification. They argued that this situation led directly to their son's death, prompting them to seek justice for what they perceive as corporate malpractice. Following Cole's tragic passing, GSK, the manufacturer of Advair, announced plans to cap the out-of-pocket cost of their inhalers at $35 starting January 2025, responding to growing concerns about skyrocketing prescription drug prices. The incident underscores the critical issue of affordable healthcare and the devastating effects that abrupt price increases can have on patients who rely on life-saving medications.