High Insulin Costs Are Killing Americans

After losing his job and insurance, Jeremy Crawford, 39, struggled to afford the insulin he needed to survive. He tried using Walmart insulin (retailing for $25), but it didn’t work well. 

Some politicians like to point to Walmart-price insulins and say that there are low-cost alternatives. However, Walmart insulins just don’t perform nearly as well as the more expensive insulins. Insulins are not interchangeable as some industry leaders would like us to believe. Switching insulins can negatively affect the health of people with diabetes, making blood sugar mangement more irregular and raising A1C scores.

As Jeremey got sicker, he resisted calling 911 to get the help he needed because he could not afford it. He died from diabetic ketoacidosis.

Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a life-threatening problem that affects people with diabetes. It occurs when the body starts breaking down fat at a rate that is much too fast. The liver processes the fat into a fuel called ketones, which causes the blood to become acidic.

We are shedding light on the tragic consequences of rationing insulin and DKA on Divabetic’s upcoming mystery podcast, A Christmas Peril, debuting in September 2021. Our most popular podcast’s cozy mystery format allows us to reach a broader audience to raise awareness for these critical issues.

No one with diabetes should die because they can’t afford their insulin. 

The Right Care Alliance (RCA) is a grassroots coalition of clinicians, patients, and community members organizing to make health care institutions accountable to communities and put patients, not profits, at the heart of health care.

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Bernie Sanders Leads Caravan to Purchase Cheaper Insulin in Canada

This past Sunday,  Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders led a group of people with Type I diabetes into Canada to purchase insulin for a fraction of the price they would be charged in the United States.

He spoke passionately about his trip and the hardships facing people with Type I diabetes in his closing remarks at last night’s Democratic Debate. He blames the “greedy” pharmaceutical companies and lawmakers who refuse to take on the crisis for the skyrocking costs of insulin. By traveling to Canada, which has a single-payer, government-backed health care system, he was also making an implicit case for his “Medicare for All” plan, which would create a similar system in this country.

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Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) has long championed efforts to bring down the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs. 

Earlier this year she invited Nicole Smith-Holt, a Minnesota woman whose son died from diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) because he struggled to afford his insulin prescription, to the State of the Union Address.

Under Nicole’s insurance, Alec had been paying $200-300 a month to manage his Type 1 diabetes. When he turned 26, he was forced off his mother’s insurance, driving the cost for his insulin to nearly $1,300 a month—$200 more than Alec’s biweekly paycheck from his full-time job.

Klobuchar and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) are the lead sponsors of the Preserve Access to Affordable Generics Actand Biosimilars Act, which would limit “pay for delay” deals in whichdrug manufacturers use anti-competitive pay-off agreements to prevent or delay the introduction of affordable follow-on versions of branded pharmaceuticals, and the Safe and Affordable Drugs from Canada Act, which allow individuals to safely import prescription drugs from Canada.

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The #insulin4all campaign unites the diabetes community to fight together for access to diabetes supplies, care, and treatment for everyone.

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