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Eli Lilly responds after fake Twitter account falsely claims insulin is now free

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Drugmaker Eli Lilly and Company apologized to customers who got bad information from a fake Twitter account.

An account that featured Eli Lily's name and logo posted that insulin is now being offered for free. The account had a blue Twitter verification checkmark, which was given out to subscribers who paid $8 for the company's new subscription service.

The tweet received thousands of retweets before it disappeared.

"We apologize to those who have been served a misleading message from a fake Lilly account," Eli Lilly said in a tweet from its actual account, which now has an "official" checkmark in addition to the blue verified checkmark.

The drugmaker also referred people searching for lower-cost insulin to its program that offers the drug for $35 a month.

The fake tweet could have had an impact on Eli Lilly's stock. It dropped about 20 points after trading began on Friday.

Twitter has been inundated with "parody" accounts since Elon Musk took over the company. The company has continually been making tweaks in an attempt to cut down on fake accounts, however, they have continued to pop up.