The Fox Valley family is suing over son’s deadly asthma attacks after medicine costs rose 700 percent

Cole Schmidtknecht lived with chronic asthma when he was an infant using an Advair Discus -Inhalator daily to deal with the lung disease.

The medicine was covered by his health insurance, which cost between $ 35 and $ 66.86 per day. Month.

Until January 10, 2024.

It was then a pharmacist at a Walgreens in Appleton told Cole that the medicine was no longer covered by his insurance.

Without this insurance coverage, costs outside the pocket of the inhaler were $ 539.19. Cole left without medication or an opportunity for a generic version.

Five days later, Cole, 22, had a serious asthma attack. He died on January 21, 2024.

A new federal trial filed by Cole’s parents, Shanon and Car Schmidtknecht from Poynette, claimed that the 700 percent increase in the cost of the inhaler caused their son’s death.

Cole’s family said he chose to pay his rent instead of buying his medication.

Cole’s family sues Optum RX, a subsidiary of United Healthcare and Walgreens for unjust death.

Walgreens refused to comment and referred to pending litigation. Optum RX did not respond to the request for comment on the trial.

Since the death of coles, Schmidtknechts has worked with legislators to combat unreasonable practice by prescription drug advantage or PBMs.

Optum RX is one of the three largest PBMs in the country along with Caremark RX and Express Scripts. Companies manage approx. 80 percent of all prescriptions in the United States.

In September 2024, the Federal Trade Commission brought action against the three companies Promotion that they have abused their financial power by rigging pharmaceutical supply chain competition to their advantage, forcing patients to pay more for life -saving medicine.

Cole’s family claims in their federal complaint that Optum RX did not give him the required 30 -day notice of the cost increase of Advair Discus.

“As a result, he did not have the opportunity to ask for an exception to OptumRX’s reclassification of the medicine under its form, which suddenly got his normal medicine insurmountable expensive,” according to the complaint.

According to a statement from Optum RX, it was the Walgreens pharmacy’s obligation to contact Cole’s prescribing doctor about three other “clinically appropriate” alternatives.

Walgreens did not provide Cole with more affordable solutions, a generic alternative to Advair Discus or contact his doctor, according to the complaint.

“Over the next five days, Cole struggled repeatedly to breathe and only rely on his old” rescue “inhaler to limit his symptoms because he did not have a preventative inhaler designed for daily use,” the complaint states.

On January 15, 2024, Cole’s roommate drove him to the emergency at the Tedacare Regional Medical Center-Appleton. When they arrived, he did not respond.

“Emergency medical staff immediately gave Cole two rounds with epinephrine and performed two rounds of heart lung rescue that lasted over four minutes to try to get him to regain consciousness,” according to the complaint. “Despite their best efforts, Cole never woke up again.”

Cole remained on a fan in the intensive care unit for six days before his parents withdrew life support.

Cole’s story was entered into the congressional record During a hearing of the PBM reform on December 9 by the US Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Massachusetts.

“Cole had all his life ahead of him,” Auchincloss said. “Because Cole was forced to pay his rent or peeled hundreds of dollars to cover his medicine outside the pocket of a drug that didn’t have to be so expensive, his family is without their loved one.”