Insulin is one of those medications that is absolutely necessary for the continued health of millions of Americans. In fact, about six million of the 29 million Americans who live with diabetes require insulin just to stay alive. Unfortunately, the price for this precious medication has shot up in price over recent years. Between 2002 and 2013 alone, insulin prices “more than tripled, to more than $700 per patient.” Fortunately for consumers, we may see an end to these dramatic price hikes because a federal lawsuit has been filed against the three big insulin manufacturers, accusing them of “conspiring to raise their prices.”
Insulin is one of those medications that is absolutely necessary for the continued health of millions of Americans. In fact, about six million of the 29 million Americans who live with diabetes require insulin just to stay alive. Unfortunately, the price for this precious medication has shot up in price over recent years. Between 2002 and 2013 alone, insulin prices “more than tripled, to more than $700 per patient.” Fortunately for consumers, we may see an end to these dramatic price hikes because a federal lawsuit has been filed against the three big insulin manufacturers, accusing them of “conspiring to raise their prices.”
The lawsuit is a step in the right direction to keeping costs under control. As insulin gets more expensive, fewer and fewer people will be able to afford it. The high prices, “combined with rising insurance deductibles, mean many people who rely on insulin are feeling sticker shock.” Already there are many who are either struggling to pay for the medication, or just going without altogether. Even doctors across the country are claiming that some of their patients who can’t afford the medication are “facing impossible choices.”
For example, a recent cellphone video showed Dr. Claresa Levetan “talking to her patient Shawna Thompson back in the hospital because she couldn’t pay for her insulin.” It turns out that a single vial of insulin was costing Thompson $178. Another example of a patient struggling with high insulin prices is Kathleen Washington. At 74-years-old, Washington often has to pay more than $300 per month for her medication. Recently she’s been having to make some tough choices because, at more than $300 a month, insulin isn’t affordable anymore. “I must pay my mortgage,” Washington said. In a choice between her mortgage or insulin, “it’s going to be the mortgage.”
According to Dr. Levetan, “patients come in and say I can’t afford to take it, so I’m not.” She added that it’s “common for her now to hand out free drug company samples of insulin, just so patients can stay on their lifesaving medication.” She said, “patients are begging for samples because they can’t afford the insulin.”
When SSR Health, and investment research firm, “analyzed insulin list prices from 2012 to 2016,” they “found prices went up between 99 and 120 percent” among the three major drug companies, Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi. SSR Health also noticed a pattern among the three companies: “the prices of two prime insulin drugs rose in lockstep – mirroring each other – 12 times between 2008 and 2014.”
This has led many, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, to call for a federal investigation, “alleging collusion among the three drug companies.” In a statement from Sanders he said:
“Just coincidentally it happens that the three major suppliers of insulin seem to be raising their prices at the same exact time, at the same level. So I think you have to be very naïve not to believe there is collusion.”
So far the three companies have denied the allegations, but have “announced new initiatives to make insulin more affordable.”
Sources:
Lawsuit Accuses Drug Makers of Conspiring to Hike Insulin Prices
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