Michigan Court: 4-3 Ruling Revives Lilly Insulin Probe
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- Michigan Supreme Court ruled 4-3 on Friday reversing a lower court decision that had blocked the state's investigation into Eli Lilly's insulin pricing practices.
- Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel launched the probe four years ago, alleging Lilly artificially raised insulin prices in violation of state consumer protection laws.
- Eli Lilly was accused of charging 'grossly' excessive prices for three specific insulin products — Lispro, Humalog, and Basaglar.
- The state alleged in court documents that the pricing forced patients to ration or forgo insulin, restrict their diets, or buy less effective alternatives.
- Michigan's filings claimed the practices resulted in 'serious disability and even death in some patients.'
- The court was sharply divided, with three justices dissenting from the decision allowing the investigation to move forward.
Why it matters: The 4-3 ruling revives a state consumer protection probe into Eli Lilly's pricing of Lispro, Humalog, and Basaglar, with the AG alleging patients rationed insulin and some died. The narrow split signals real legal uncertainty about how far state AGs can reach into drug pricing, and Michigan now has a path to enforcement that a lower court had previously shut down.
