Insulin on the rise

Insulin prices have been rapidly rising for the past decade, negatively effecting those with Type 1 Diabetes and their families by Lexi Jackson

Affordability is a great concern of those with diabetes and their families due to the increasing price of insulin. There are 30 million Americans with diabetes and 7.4 million of those people use insulin. The most common forms of insulin cost 10 times more in the U.S. than in other developed countries. According to the Healthline website, insulin prices in Canada have remained relatively the same price; whereas, prices in the U.S. are ever rising. People who use insulin are often forced to choose between purchasing insulin, which is a matter of life and death, or paying for other necessities.

Nurse Paula Horton said, “There are many people in the United States that don’t have health insurance and having to pay for insulin can be a very hard battle with finances. Type 1 diabetes is a disease that can affect anyone and is not secondary to poor decision making like many other diseases.”

According to the Diabetes website, in 1921, Frederick Banting, Henry Best, J.B. Collip, and John Macleod developed a form of insulin from the pancreas of cattle to treat diabetes. Two years later, Banting and Macleod received the Nobel Peace Prize in medicine and sold their discovery to the University of Toronto for $1 each, which is $14 today.

In 1922, Leonard Thompson, age 14, became the first person to receive an insulin injection. His high glucose levels dropped to normal levels. Over the next few decades, there was a large-scale production of insulin from cattle and pigs to treat diabetes. However, it caused many allergic reactions. The first genetically engineered biosynthetic insulin was developed in 1978 to combat the negative reactions.

Over the course of about 20 years, the cost of Humalog skyrocketed from $21 to $331 per vial, an increase of more than 1,000 percent, according to the Healthline website. Prices initially rose because more people began using human insulin instead of animal insulin. However, in 2000, cost became an even larger issue when insurance companies began using co-pays for prescriptions, and when newer insulins such as Humalog, Novolog, and Lantus became available. From 2012 to 2016, the average price of short-acting insulin vials, rapid-acting insulin vials, rapid-acting insulin pens, and long-acting insulin vials/pens increased from 15 percent to 17 percent. Similarly, the prices pharmacies paid to purchase these insulins increased at the same rate.

Kylie Holt, senior, said, “ I think [insulin prices] have risen due to more people getting it, so [pharmaceutical companies] know that they can make more money. I don’t think it’s right because people need to live and thrive.”

Pharmaceutical companies argue that the high cost of insulin is because of the high cost of development, even though the most commonly used insulins are over 20 years old. Insulin is not a luxury item, people will pay whatever they need in order to survive. Another reason for high prices is the virtual monopoly pharmaceutical companies hold over the production of insulin. Both pharmaceutical companies and pharmacy benefit managers benefit from a high list price.

Junior Claire Cebula said, “ I would think that the growing demand would cause [pharmaceutical companies] to have lower and more competitive pricing. The companies have a right to increase their pricing, but they will have to face the consequences of losing customers or having regulations put on their pricing by the government if they get out of hand.”

There are many solutions to fight the increasing insulin prices in order to relieve financial stress off of families who need it. A viable solution to this issue is governmental or nongovernmental organizations to oversee the pricing. Aiding those organizations would be laws and regulations covering the price increases. The biggest thing for everyday people to do is to advocate for new policies that could help those who need insulin without being burdened by finances. “Mountain View has less than 10 students with Type 1 Diabetes this year.” “People with Type 1 diabetes have no other recourse than to take insulin for the rest of their life (or until an artificial pancreas is approved). This gives pharmaceutical companies the ability to raise prices as they would like since those that suffer cannot choose an alternative therapy,” said Nurse Paula Horton.”

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