Eli Lilly has gone to federal court, accusing a web of pharmacies, wholesalers, and church-linked groups of orchestrating a more than $200 million rebate fraud built around its diabetes drug Trulicity. In a sharply worded filing, the company points to leaders connected to the Church of God in Christ and a mail-order pharmacy called DrugPlace, alleging the operation pumped in bogus patient data to trigger rebates while turning around and reselling the medicine on the secondary market. Lilly says it wants the entire setup shut down and the money returned.
What the lawsuit alleges
According to Roy's Report, which was published in the federal complaint filed May 19 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Lilly claims DrugPlace snapped up unusually large quantities of Trulicity, then ran rebate requests through middlemen who falsely stated the drug had gone to real patients. The lawsuit says the scheme sent in tens of thousands of rebate submissions between 2020 and 2025 and alleges that the “vast majority” of the patient and prescription data in those claims was made up. Lilly is asking the judge for injunctive relief, disgorgement, and restitution of what it says is more than $200 million in improperly paid rebates.
Nashville leaders named
The filing calls out several people and organizations tied to the Church of God in Christ, including Nashville figures Readus C. Smith III and Bishop Jerry Maynard Sr., along with two of Maynard’s children, according to Roy's Report. The complaint is blunt, stating that “the prescription cost share program is a sham.” It further alleges that DrugPlace and a related entity called Community Health shared office space, overlapping control, and a business setup that let them both resell Trulicity on the secondary market and collect rebates on the same product.
Church denies wrongdoing
In response, the Church of God in Christ released a statement saying it has “no knowledge of the acts alleged in the complaint” and that it has not knowingly taken part in or authorized the conduct described. As reported by WSMV, church leaders acknowledged that some of the people named in the suit are connected to COGIC health programs and said the church is cooperating with any appropriate inquiries. Officials did not immediately respond to additional questions from reporters.
How Lilly says the scheme worked
Lilly claims DrugPlace and cooperating wholesalers bought Trulicity from authorized distributors, then quietly sold that inventory on the secondary market while filing rebate claims that made it look as though church members had received the medication. Investigators inside Lilly flagged what they considered statistical red flags in the claims data, including uniform 30-day fills, no reversals, and an unusually narrow mix of drugs, which prompted a deeper review in 2025. As reported by FiercePharma, Lilly says it had already cut ties with DrugPlace after a 2015 audit raised concerns, and now alleges the defendants later hid their activities behind intermediaries.
Legal stakes and next steps
The civil case asks the court to freeze assets, block any new rebate submissions, and force the return of both the rebates and profits Lilly claims were obtained illegally, according to FOX13 Memphis. If the judge signs off on Lilly’s early motions, the lawsuit will move into discovery, where both sides trade documents and testimony. If not, the defendants will formally lay out their answers and defenses. For Nashville, the case throws an uncommon spotlight on the overlap between faith-based health programs and complex pharmaceutical rebate systems, and local leaders say they are waiting on the courts before making any firm judgments.
