Unaffordable Insulin

     

        Recently in class, we watched San Francisco 2.0, a documentary that discussed social consequences of a market driven economy. It is no secret that companies sometimes profit at the expense of vulnerable people such as the lower income families of SF or in the case of this article, diabetics who rely on insulin to survive. 

       For those who are unfamiliar, insulin is a hormone that is (usually) produced by the pancreas in order to allow the body to absorb sugars in the blood. In the case of diabetics, their bodies has lost the ability to produce this hormone so they must artificially inject it or else they will almost certainly die from ketoacidosis.

       Insulin was first discovered in 1921, and the patent for it was soon sold to University of Toronto in hopes that it would become widely available for those who need it. However, several drug companies soon started innovating on the drug and taking out patents for those innovations, preventing cheap generics to be made in a process called "evergreening". These few, companies, namely Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi, effectively held a monopoly over the production of insulin as they (unofficially) collaborate to raise prices at the same time so they could avoid a competitive market. 

      To a diabetic these rising prices poses a multitude of problems that are sometimes fatal. There have been many cases where those who cannot afford insulin resort to rationing what they have left until they die from ketoacidosis. According to an article from the Washington Post, "One in 4 diabetes patients have admitted to rationing the drug because of costs, and several have died after doing so". This is highly troubling because it means that for these drug companies to turn a greater profit, people are literally dying. Although these companies are saying that they are trying to address these problems financial programs and emergency services, it has largely been an attempt to appease the growing discontent for rising insulin prices. In reality, with changes to our current healthcare system, insulin prices remain unaffordable for many.

      Today, states such as Colorado and Illinois have been starting to intervene by setting price ceilings to curb the cost of insulin. However, much like the displacement of people in SF, the deaths of diabetics who resorted to rationing is a heart wrenching side effect of a capitalistic market.