![Background: Cole Schmidtknecht (Patient Protector). Inset: Bil Schmidtknecht, Shanon Schmidtknecht (Patient Protector).](https://am23.mediaite.com/lc/cnt/uploads/2025/01/cole-and-parents.jpg)
Background: Cole Schmidtknecht (Patient Protector). Inset: Bil Schmidtknecht, Shanon Schmidtknecht (Patient Protector).
A lawsuit has been filed by the parents of a young man from Wisconsin against Walgreens and pharmacy benefit manager OptumRx following their son’s tragic death from an asthma attack. The lawsuit alleges that the price of their son’s medication skyrocketed from $66 to $539, making it unaffordable for him.
The young man, Cole Schmidtknecht, who was only 22 years old, had been dealing with chronic asthma since he was a baby. His parents, Shanon and William “Bil” Schmidtknecht, shared in the lawsuit that Cole relied on a daily steroid inhaler as a preventive measure for his condition. However, due to the sudden and significant increase in the cost of his inhaler, Cole found himself unable to afford it, leading him to go without the medication for several days.
Cole then suffered a severe asthma attack and died.
In the detailed 35-page complaint lodged on Jan. 21 against OptumRx, Inc., Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc., and Walgreens Pharmacy, Cole’s parents shed light on the role of OptumRx as a “Pharmacy Benefit Manager” (PBM). PBMs are intermediaries that operate between health insurers, pharmaceutical companies, and pharmacies, as explained by Cole’s parents in the lawsuit.
The family further alleged that Optum is one of the nation’s three largest PBMs and is responsible for servicing drug prescription claims for over 66 million Americans.