Star Tribune
Settlement caps monthly insulin costs at $35 for Minnesotans with diabetes
Minnesotans with diabetes will pay no more than $35 monthly for Eli Lilly’s brand-name insulin products, at least for the next five years, under a settlement announced Wednesday by state Attorney General Keith Ellison.
The state in 2018 was the first in the U.S. to sue insulin manufacturers over price-gouging allegations — driven by stories such as the death of Alec Smith, the 26-year-old with type 1 diabetes who had been rationing medication that he couldn’t afford. His mother Nicole Smith-Holt joined Ellison at the State Capitol to announce the deal, saying, “It’s going to save so many lives.”
“It’s been 20 years they have been taking advantage of type 1 diabetics, type 2 diabetics,” she said of the drug companies, “taking advantage of the fact that they have to have this product in order to live.”
Minnesota is still suing Novo Nordisk and Sanofi, two other manufacturers of synthetic insulin, but Ellison said he hopes to reach similar terms with them soon to make their versions affordable. New York had reached similar terms last year with all three manufacturers, which also announced that they were slashing list prices of insulin at the start of 2024.
The settlement comes amid a continued surge in diabetes, a disease by which the body can’t produce insulin, or produces too little to regulate the body’s blood sugar levels. Minnesota’s adult diabetes rate surpassed 10% for the first time in state history in 2022, according to federal survey data.
The chronic disease can cause heart, kidney and nerve problems, and costs Minnesota around $5 billion each year in medical expenses and lost productivity.
“This comes not a moment too soon,” said Ellison of the settlement, adding that “no one should have to choose between affording their lives and affording to live.”
The company issued a statement after the news conference, saying the settlement “fully resolves one of the longest-running insulin pricing lawsuits and reinforces our commitment to ensuring that Minnesotans have affordable access to Lilly’s insulins. The agreement builds on our longstanding and industry leading efforts to close gaps in the U.S. healthcare system and expand access to affordable insulin.”
Wednesday’s settlement will provide discount cards for uninsured Minnesotans and options for people currently paying more than $35 per month through their health plans for insulin. It also will arrange for 15 clinics across Minnesota to provide free Eli Lilly insulin supplies, and for a MNinsulin35.org website to provide information on options under the settlement.
Many Minnesota health plans have already capped monthly insulin costs at $25 per month, but only for fully insured plans on the individual market that cover a sliver of the state’s population. Minnesotans will continue with existing options if already paying less than $35 per month, according to the settlement.
List prices for insulin had tripled since 2002, and costs also increased dramatically for other commonplace medications in recent years, despite claims by drugmakers that discount cards and other programs actually made them more affordable.
Smith-Holt’s son died in summer 2017 after he aged out of his parents’ health insurance and couldn’t afford his own coverage as a restaurant manager. He rationed medication because he couldn’t afford a $1,300 monthly refill, and died of diabetic ketoacidosis, or a critical shortage of insulin.
State legislation in Smith’s name in 2020 created a safety net program, making free or low-cost insulin available to people with diabetes who needed it urgently.
A state health report last fall found that the program was particularly helpful for Minnesotans who had no insurance or Medicare coverage, but not for underinsured people whose health plans had high cost-sharing requirements and deductibles. A survey of Minnesota pharmacists still showed that 85% felt their customers were struggling to afford insulin, despite all the recent options.
Drugmakers sued in response to the legislation, and that case is still pending.
A former Medtronic consultant received an 18-month prison sentence this week for his role in a scheme linked to the $1.6 billion acquisition of an Israeli medical device company in 2018.
A federal jury in February convicted Doron “Ron” Tavlin, 69, of Minneapolis, of one count of conspiracy to engage in insider trading and 10 additional counts related to securities fraud. That same jury found David Jay Gantman, 58, of Mendota Heights, not guilty of all charges against him. A third defendant — Afshin “Alex” Farahan, 57, of Los Angeles — pleaded guilty in 2022 and has yet to be sentenced.
“His crime was cynical and brazen. It was also reckless,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Ebert wrote in a memo calling for a 3-year prison term. “Tavlin’s conduct had the potential to blow up a deal that a team of executives and financial advisers had been diligently negotiating for months.”
Tavlin is now scheduled to self-surrender Jan. 5 to begin his prison term, which will be followed by 320 hours of community service.
According to the evidence presented at trial, Tavlin learned about a secret, pending acquisition by Medtronic of Mazor Robotics, where he worked as vice president of business development, in 2018. Tavlin also previously worked as a consultant to the Ireland-based Medtronic, which also has a headquarters in Fridley.
Tavlin illegally tipped off Farahan, his friend, about news of the imminent acquisition and told him to keep the news secret. Farahan knew the deal would likely result in a boost to Mazor’s stock price and quickly bought more than $1 million of the company’s stock throughout August and September 2018. Medtronic announced plans to acquire Mazor, which specialized in robotics for spinal procedures, in September 2018 and the deal closed three months later.
Prosecutors said Farahan netted more than $245,000, and Gantman made $255,000 in profit by selling the securities quickly after the deal was publicized. Farahan paid Tavlin for the secret information about the pending deal — including a $25,000 kickback about a year later —according to prosecutors.
U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank, who sentenced Tavlin Monday, also ordered Tavlin to pay a special assessment fee of $1,100 – or $100 per each count. Frank did not impose a fine.
Star Tribune
Charges detail assault in Minneapolis that led to shooting rampage, killing one in Kandiyohi County
Another friend of the ex-girlfriend arrived to help. He pulled up in a car as the group exited the apartment and Matariyeh immediately pointed a gun at him before pounding on the windshield with the gun. Everyone fled as Matariyeh ran back inside the apartment.
The two men met in a parking lot before attempting to return to the apartment. That’s when they looked up and saw Matariyeh on the balcony. Matariyeh immediately began firing multiple shots at them as they took cover behind parked cars.
It was around this time that Minneapolis police officers arrived and made contact with Matariyeh’s ex-girlfriend. She believed he was still inside the apartment, but officers later learned that he had fled. They reached him on the phone. He told officers he was going to kill innocent people if he couldn’t speak with his ex-girlfriend or see his daughter, who was at daycare at the time. He later told police negotiators that “he wanted to go out by ‘suicide by cop.’”
All the while, Matariyeh was speeding westbound.
Police officers pursued him near Cosmos in Meeker County after being alerted that Matariyeh might have stolen another vehicle at gunpoint in Carver County.
Around 2 p.m. he pulled into the rural driveway of Peter Mayerchak in Lake Lillian. Mayerchak, who was in his yard placing hay over his septic mound, went and greeted Matariyeh, who shot him in the chest.
Mixing progressive dreams with dire warnings, a group of DFL leaders riled up a group of volunteers in St. Paul on Thursday morning, urging them to push on through the day’s freezing rain and fatigue in the remaining days before the election.
Several elected officials including Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar told the group of about 150 campaign staffers, volunteers and union members about how meaningful their work is to keeping DFL control of the Legislature, as the electeds start a statewide bus tour to turn out votes.
“We are here to keep our trifecta here in Minnesota,” U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar told volunteers on Thursday. “We’ve got five days, people!”
On the Republican side, House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, said earlier this month that the House Republican Campaign Committee had raised a record $2.7 million ahead of the election and she said Republicans have also set records in volunteering and door-knocking as they work to break DFL control.
Minnesota Democrats hold a rally before starting a bus tour around the state to get voters excited, including Rep Ilhan Omar, Sen Amy Klobuchar, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, House Speaker Melissa Hortman, Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, Rep Betty McCollum and Sen Tina Smith on Thursday. (Glen Stubbe/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
“Republicans have the momentum and resources heading into the final stretch to win the majority and restore balance to Minnesota,” Demuth said in a statement. “Minnesotans are ready to move on from the expensive two years of Democrat one-party rule.”
House Speaker Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, said she thought voters preferred action to the gridlock of divided government. “They’re looking for people who can get things done,” she said.
These last-minute get-out-the-vote efforts come as Democrats around the country push to keep control of state legislative chambers and try to flip a few statehouses that Republicans hold by just a few seats.
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, the arm of the national Democratic party that works on statehouse races across the country, has spent $500,000 on Minnesota races this year, including House races and the state Senate contest.
