The escalating cost of insulin has desperate diabetics rationing medication, acquiring the drug from friends or getting it from Canada or Mexico.
Corrections & Clarifications: This story has been updated to reflect royalty payments for a 1923 patent.Like most people with Type 1 diabetes, the 47-year-old nurse had a kit of essential supplies within reach. It contained two empty vials of her preferred insulin, a partial vial of inexpensive Walmart insulin and a half-filled container of testing strips to measure blood glucose levels.
Patient advocates are becoming increasingly vocal about the affordability of a drug invented nearly a century ago by scientists who took steps to make the medicine inexpensive. One group staged protests outside the offices of the nation's three dominant insulin makers. A vial of insulin loses potency after being opened for 28 days. The amount of insulin a patient needs varies depending on such factors as age, weight, diet and overall health.
In a statement, Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks said the lower-cost insulin is a"bridge that addresses gaps in the system until a more sustainable model is achieved." The American Diabetes Association convened an Insulin Access and Affordability Working Group to study rising insulin prices and affordability of the life-sustaining medicine. The group's study concluded that a complex supply chain from the drug factory to the pharmacy might promote higher prices.
Van Nuys says that if one drugmaker lowers insulin prices, that could put it at a competitive disadvantage compared with peers. That is because pharmacy benefit managers might still require a significant rebate. Waxman does not need much insulin because she is on a low-carbohydrate diet. If she has excess insulin, she packs it in styrofoam containers cooled with ice packs and sends it to fellow diabetes patients who can't afford the drug.
One in four patients responded that cost prompted them to use less insulin than prescribed, take smaller doses, stretch out supplies, not fill a prescription or not start the drug. It was a small study at one center in Connecticut, and researchers can’t be certain whether insulin affordability is better or worse in other states.
“We know it’s a problem,” Lipska says. “The problem leads to, in very severe cases, patients dying, people having complications, people being admitted to the hospital.” Theubet turned to friends she met through social media in 2016 and 2017 to solicit insulin donations while she drastically changed her diet so she would not need as much medicine.
Now that her health coverage and access to insulin are stable, she has thrived in the classroom. She will complete her general education studies in the fall and plans to transfer to the University of California-Davis to complete her communication degree."I am doing the best I can with what I've been given," Theubet says.
"This is a symptom of a dysfunctional health care system in the United States," Taylor says."I don't want to put all the blame on the companies. From my point of view, the responsibility is in how our health care system is designed."Carter, the Dayton-area resident, was hospitalized twice for complications this decade and struggled to afford insulin months before she died, Patterson says.
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