On January 10, 2024, 22-year-old Cole Schmidtknecht of Appleton, Wisconsin, went to his big-box pharmacy and was told that a preventative asthma inhaler he had relied on for years was no longer covered by his insurer. He would have to pay over $500 for it — out of pocket.
Cole left without the inhaler.
On January 21, 2024, he died as a consequence of a severe asthma attack…