Wisconsin couple sues Walgreens and Optum Rx, saying son died after $500 price rise for asthma meds

A Wisconsin couple is suing Walgreens and a pharmacy benefits company alleging their son died because he couldn't afford a sudden $500 jump in the cost of his asthma medication. Shanon and William Schmidtknecht filed the federal lawsuit on Jan. 21, a year after the death of their 22-year-old son, Cole. They allege that Optum Rx stopped covering his $66 asthma medication without informing him. When he stopped at a Walgreens pharmacy in Appleton to refill his prescription, he was told new medication would cost him $539. He couldn't afford it and suffered a fatal asthma attack days later. OptumRX said last April that Cole did fill a prescription that day for a different asthma medication.