22-Year-Old Dies Painful Death From Asthma After Insurance Makes His Inhaler Price Spike

A 22-year-old man in Wisconsin tragically died from an asthma attack after he could no longer afford his inhaler because his insurance significantly increased the price.

According to ABC 7 Chicago on Tuesday, Cole Schmidtknecht’s family is suing Walgreens, its parent company Boots Alliance, and the pharmacy benefits manager OptumRx for negligence after he passed away in January 2024. Per the lawsuit, Cole suffered from chronic asthma since he was born and used an Advair Diskus inhaler to treat it. The inhaler always costs him $66 a month. However, the price changed last year when OptumRx, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, no longer covered the medication! The cost went way, way, way up!

Related: Man Met A Couple Guys On Dating App — And Ended Up Dead In A Basement

Per the suit, Cole went to grab his prescription at his Walgreens pharmacy in Appleton, Wisconsin, on January 10, 2024 but was told the inhaler would cost him $539.19 out of pocket since his insurance wouldn’t cover it anymore. He couldn’t afford it. While Cole tried to find an affordable alternative, Walgreens told him they couldn’t offer him a generic version instead since “there were no cheaper alternatives or generic medications available.” So, he left without the inhaler.

Cole relied “solely on his old ‘rescue’ (emergency) inhaler to limit his symptoms” as he “repeatedly struggled to breathe” for the next five days. On January 15, he suffered a severe asthma attack and never woke up. He died on January 21. Absolutely heartbreaking.

A family should not have had to say goodbye to their child so soon. He should be alive today. This death could have been prevented if the insurance company had not increased the price of the inhaler so much that Cole could not afford it. Learn more about the lawsuit (below):

[Image via House/Universal Television]