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https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/when-the-cost-of-his-asthma- inhaler-went-up-500-his-parents-claim-he-couldn-t-pay-two-weeks-later-he- was-dead-at-22/ar-AA1yAczn

Cole Schmidtknecht, 22, couldn't pay for his daily inhaler due to the “prohibitively expensive” price increase, but then he died of an asthma
attack, per a lawsuit filed by his parents

The parents of Cole Schmidtknecht, 22, are suing his medical insurance
company and pharmacy after he died of an asthma attack, allegedly due to
the new cost of his inhaler
The price of Cole's inhaler increased $500, and he was unable to afford
it, according to the complaint
Shanon and William Schmidtknecht’s lawsuit alleges that Cole was neither informed of the price increase nor offered generic alternatives
A Wisconsin couple is suing their son’s insurance company, Optum Rx, and Walgreens pharmacy for alleged negligence and unspecified damages after
their son died of an asthma attack — less than two weeks after he stopped taking his maintenance inhaler — allegedly due to a $500 price increase.

Cole Schmidtknecht, 22, had a lifelong struggle with asthma, according to
the lawsuit filed by Shanon and William Schmidtknecht, of Poynette, Wisc.
He managed his symptoms with Advair Diskus — the brand name for
fluticasone and salmeterol, medications that help control the symptoms of asthma when taken daily. GSK, the manufacturer of Advair, is not named in
the lawsuit.

Cole’s prescription had been covered under his insurance, Optum Rx, which
is owned by UnitedHealth Group, the lawsuit alleges. Previously the
medication had cost no more than $66.86 (without deductible) and $35 (with deductible).

However, on Jan. 10, 2024, when Cole arrived at his usual Walgreens
pharmacy, the suit alleges that he was told his medication was no longer covered and he needed to pay out-of-pocket a total cost of $539.19.

Cole was allegedly not given a 30-day notice by Optum Rx that his
medication — nor its generic forms — would no longer be covered, the suit alleges. Lawyers for the plaintiff said he was not given enough time to
request an exception to the new guideline that “suddenly made his normal medication prohibitively expensive.”

According to the lawsuit, Optum Rx says Walgreens should have contacted
Cole’s doctor for a covered alternative, but “did not follow these instructions.”

Cole was also allegedly not provided with a “free or discounted” inhaler
to use while he reached out to his provider. Instead, the suit alleges Walgreens “further told Cole that there were no cheaper alternatives or
generic medications available.”

“Because Cole could not afford this unexpected expense of $539.19, he left
the Walgreens without filling his prescription,” the suit claims.

Without his daily inhaler to help control the symptoms of asthma, the suit
says Cole’s breathing deteriorated over the next five days, forcing Cole
to rely on his rescue inhaler to relieve his symptoms.

Optum Rx previously provided a statement to Fox47 regarding Cole Schmidtknecht’s death, telling the outlet “We are saddened by Cole’s story
and our sympathies are with his family and loved ones. We have reviewed
his claims history and can confirm that he did fill a generic Albuterol prescription, an inhaler used to stop asthma attacks, on January 10, 2024,
with a $5 copay. The same drug was previously filled in October 2023 by
the member. "

Albuterol is commonly called a "rescue" inhaler, used to stop attacks
while they're happening, and differ from maintenance medication like
Advair.

According to the complaint, “On January 15, 2024, five days after visiting
the OptumRx-Walgreens pharmacy, Cole had a severe asthma attack and began
to asphyxiate.” His roommate drove Cole to the emergency room, but while
in the car, Cole became “unresponsive and pulseless.”

In the emergency room, Cole appeared blue, the suit says, and was given emergency treatment but “despite their best efforts, Cole never woke up
again.”

After six days on a ventilator, doctors told his parents that he was
“beyond help” and on Jan. 21, they withdrew life support. His cause of
death was allegedly status asthmaticus, which the National Library of
Medicine describes as “an extreme form of asthma exacerbation”

The lawsuit describes the actions of Optum Rx and Walgreens as “grievous
and outrageous,” and that both companies were “aware that the result or consequence of serious injury or death was substantially certain to occur
when it violated State law and acted in intentional disregard of that
serious injury or death.”

Optum Rx's previous statement continued, "Optum Rx also has available clinically appropriate options and formulary information when a medication
is not covered on formulary, including Advair Diskus formulary
alternatives with member copays as low as $5.”

“Our goal is to ensure medicines, including those used to treat asthma and other critical conditions, are accessible and affordable for Americans.
After rigorous review of this case, we determined that formulary
management and communications efforts that impacted this patient’s access
to key asthma medication options were handled consistent with industry
practice and the patient’s insurance plan design. Any members with
questions about their coverage can call the number on their prescription
card.”

PEOPLE has reached out to Optum Rx for more information.

A representative for Walgreens told PEOPLE via email, “We can’t comment
due to pending litigation.”


--
November 5, 2024 - Congratulations President Donald Trump. We look
forward to America being great again.

The disease known as Kamala Harris has been effectively treated and
eradicated.

We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that
stupid people won't be offended.

Durham Report: The FBI has an integrity problem. It has none.

Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden
fiasco, President Trump.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.

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