The city of Baltimore is suing Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk and CVS Caremark, alleging that the companies harmed the city and its citizens by conspiring to inflate the price of insulin. Mayor Brandon Scott and the Baltimore City Council filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Maryland.

The plaintiffs allege that the increased prices make insurance more expensive and put a strain on emergency services and medical facilities because people were rationing their medications.

"What the mayor is doing is saying we got to have some of that money back, because we've been gouged and the people of Baltimore City need this redress," said Vincent DeMarco, president of Maryland Healthcare for All. "Eli Lilly and these other drug corporations have been gouging local governments, state governments, insurers and average Americans for so long. The price of a vial of insulin went from 20 bucks to 300 bucks from 1999 to 2016. And in that time, it didn't cost them any more to make it. They were just gouging us for profits and high salaries of their executives."

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