Published
July 14, 2026
If you have paid out of pocket for insulin, you have probably wondered why the price climbed so high. This is the sprawling lawsuit that puts the insulin makers and the pharmacy middlemen on trial for it — though there is nothing for individuals to claim yet.
Allegations Only · No Settlement Yet
This article describes a consolidated class action / multidistrict litigation. The pricing-scheme claims are unproven allegations. The manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers deny wrongdoing, none has been found liable in this MDL, there is no certified consumer class, and there is nothing to claim. This page is informational and is not legal or tax advice.
What Is This About?
One of the largest active multidistrict litigations in the country accuses the makers of insulin and the middlemen who negotiate drug coverage of working together to inflate insulin prices. The consolidated case is In re: Insulin Pricing Litigation, MDL No. 3080, before Judge Brian R. Martinotti in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. By case count it is enormous — roughly 514 actions were pending as of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation's July 1, 2026 report.The defendants fall into two groups: the three dominant insulin manufacturers — Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi — and the three dominant pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs — CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, and OptumRx. Plaintiffs allege the two groups' pricing and rebate practices drove up what many patients and payors pay for insulin. The defendants deny wrongdoing, none has been found liable in this MDL, and the claims remain unproven allegations.
Status
MDL Consolidated — In Litigation
MDL 3080 · D.N.J. · Judge Brian R. Martinotti · consolidated Aug. 2023 · ~514 actions pending
Who's Sued
3 makers + 3 PBMs
Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk & Sanofi + CVS Caremark, Express Scripts & OptumRx · RICO, consumer-protection & related claims
Can I Claim?
No — nothing to claim yet
No MDL settlement or consumer claim form · the $35 caps and FTC/state deals are separate
The Alleged Pricing Scheme
The heart of the case is what plaintiffs call a rebate-and-list-price scheme. In plain terms, plaintiffs allege it works like this: the manufacturers repeatedly raised the published "list price" (the Wholesale Acquisition Cost, or WAC) of their insulins far above the cost to make them. To win favorable placement on formularies — the covered-drug lists that decide which products patients can actually get — the manufacturers allegedly paid large, confidential rebates to the PBMs.Plaintiffs allege this created an inflated "spread" between the high list price and the lower net price after rebates, and that PBMs demanded ever-larger rebates, giving manufacturers a reason to keep raising list prices rather than lower them. The people hit hardest, plaintiffs allege, are those whose out-of-pocket cost is tied to the list price rather than the rebated net price: the uninsured, people in high-deductible plans, and those with percentage-based (coinsurance) cost-sharing — plus the health plans and employers that reimbursed at inflated prices. Again, these are allegations; the defendants dispute them.
Who Is Suing, and Who Is Being Sued
The MDL is dominated by governmental and payor plaintiffs. It aggregates cases brought by states and state attorneys general, counties and other local governments, and self-funded health plans and employers — the litigation even has a dedicated "Self-Funded Payer Track" for organizations that pay their own prescription-drug costs. Individual patients are part of the broader insulin-pricing story, but there is no certified nationwide consumer class with an open claims process inside the MDL.On the other side are the three manufacturers, which together make up roughly 90% of the U.S. insulin market, and the three PBMs, which together administer roughly 80% of U.S. prescriptions. Brand insulins named in the litigation include Humalog (Lilly), NovoLog (Novo Nordisk), and Lantus (Sanofi), among others.
Where the Case Stands
The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation centralized the cases in the District of New Jersey before Judge Martinotti in August 2023, and the docket has grown steadily since — from a few hundred actions to roughly 514 pending as of July 2026. The nature of suit on the docket includes federal racketeering (RICO) claims, alongside state consumer-protection, unjust-enrichment, and civil-conspiracy theories.Importantly, the court has declined to throw the case out. Ruling on the manufacturers' motion to dismiss, Judge Martinotti granted it in part and denied it in part — allowing significant claims, reported to include RICO, state consumer-protection, unjust-enrichment, and civil-conspiracy claims, to proceed. A follow-on motion for reconsideration was denied. The litigation is in discovery and motion practice; no bellwether trial date has been confirmed, and there is no global settlement.
The $35 Caps, State Deals, and the FTC Case — All Separate
A lot has happened around insulin pricing that is not part of this MDL, and it is easy to conflate. Keep these separate:• 2023 price caps and list-price cuts: In March 2023, all three manufacturers announced $35 monthly out-of-pocket caps and steep list-price reductions on several insulins. These were company announcements amid political pressure — not a legal settlement and not a claims program.
• State attorney general deals: Some states, such as Minnesota, secured agreements guaranteeing $35-a-month insulin for their residents from the manufacturers. These are state-specific and are not a nationwide consumer claim form.
• The FTC's separate PBM case: In September 2024, the Federal Trade Commission filed an administrative case against the three big PBMs over their insulin rebating practices — a separate agency proceeding that did not name the manufacturers. The FTC has since reached structural settlements with some PBMs (for example, Express Scripts in February 2026) that change practices going forward. These are consent orders, not consumer payouts.
None of these is an MDL consumer claim form. They cap or change costs going forward and resolve government matters; they do not pay individual diabetics for past overpayments.
Is There a Settlement or Claim Form?
No. The MDL is still being actively litigated, and there is no MDL-wide settlement and no consumer claim form. If you see a website telling diabetics to "file an insulin pricing claim," it is describing something that does not exist. If the case is later resolved in a way that provides consumer relief, a formal claims process with its own eligibility rules and deadlines would be announced separately, and OpenClassActions.com would cover it.Who Is Affected and What You Can Do
The alleged overpayment harm falls on people who paid for analog insulins — especially the uninsured, those in high-deductible plans, and those with percentage-based coinsurance — as well as the self-funded health plans and employers that reimbursed at inflated prices. Being "affected" right now means potentially being within the alleged group, not being eligible for any payout, because none exists.• Keep your insulin pharmacy records and Explanation of Benefits statements; if any consumer recovery is ever created, documentation of what you paid would matter.
• If cost is a barrier now, ask your pharmacy or manufacturer about the $35 cap programs that already exist — those are available today, independent of the lawsuit.
• There is nothing to file in the MDL; watch for news of a settlement or certified class.
For a related matter, see OCA's coverage of the CVS insulin Medicaid overbilling settlement, which is a distinct case, and OCA's class action investigations hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there an insulin pricing settlement or claim form?
No. MDL 3080 is in active litigation in the District of New Jersey. There is no MDL-wide settlement and no consumer claim form. The $35 caps and the FTC/state deals are separate and are not a claims program.Who is suing?
Mostly states and state attorneys general, local governments, and self-funded health plans and employers that allege they overpaid. There is no certified nationwide consumer class with an open claims process in the MDL.Do I need to file a claim?
No. Because this is litigation and not a settlement, there is nothing to claim and no deadline. Keep your insulin payment records. If consumer relief is ever created, a claims process and deadlines would be announced separately.Sources
• Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation — transfer order creating MDL No. 3080: JPML Transfer Order• U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey — official Insulin Pricing Litigation page (judges, orders, tracks): D.N.J. Insulin Pricing Litigation
• CourtListener — docket for In re Insulin Pricing Litigation, No. 2:23-md-03080 (D.N.J.): CourtListener Docket
• Federal Trade Commission — "FTC Sues Prescription Drug Middlemen for Artificially Inflating Insulin Drug Prices" (Sept. 20, 2024): FTC Press Release
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Status
MDL Consolidated — In Litigation (no settlement)
Case
In re Insulin Pricing Litigation
MDL Number
MDL No. 3080 · No. 2:23-md-03080
Court
U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey · Judge Brian R. Martinotti
Consolidated
August 2023
Cases Pending
~514 actions (JPML, July 1, 2026)
Court Docket
CourtListener Docket
