The Allegheny County District Attorney's Office is taking drug companies and pharmacies to court.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court out of New Jersey, alleges that companies artificially inflated the cost of insulin prices, all while production costs remained stable.

In the court filing, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala said while some goods and services costs have gone up less than twofold, some diabetes medications have shot up by tenfold.

"That's just wrong, and hopefully we can get some relief for everybody," Zappala said on Friday.

His lawsuit names companies like Eli Lilly, CVS and UnitedHealthcare. It goes after the drug manufacturers and pharmacy benefits managers.

According to Zappala, some people are spending thousands of dollars a month on insulin when it's costing companies as little as $2 per vial to make.

"I'm acting on behalf of consumers who have, in this case, been the subject of civil racketeering is what we're alleging," Zappala said.

The lawsuit filed by Zappala is similar to the one filed by Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner. The goal is to try to get some form of money back to customers. Zappala hopes the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office looks at a case like this.

"Pennsylvania has a lot of older population. Diabetes is not unique to an older population, so there's a lot of people that can benefit in Pennsylvania," Zappala said.

In a statement, CVS said the prices are set by the drug companies. According to CVS, three companies control nearly all the insulin market. 

It added that without generic alternatives, costs have gone up by as much as 500%. CVS said it works to keep costs down as much as possible for its customers, adding that many members pay less than $25 for the medicine.

"There's price fixing going on, and it's been that way for quite some time. A lot of people have been damaged in western Pennsylvania. I'm going to try to recover money and make them whole," Zappala said.

The lawsuit was filed within the past week. The goal is to get this case before a jury in federal court.