The human cost of high insulin prices

The global insulin market is dominated by three companies: Eli Lilly, the French company Sanofi and the Danish firm Novo Nordisk.
In the past decade alone, U.S. insulin list prices have tripled, according to an analysis of data from IBM Watson Health
According to IBM Watson Health data, Sanofi’s popular insulin brand Lantus was $35 a vial when it was introduced in 2001; it’s now $270. Novo Nordisk’s Novolog was priced at $40 in 2001, and as of July 2018, it’s $289.
Stories of people rationing insulin and dying as a result continue to appear in the media.

Pharma’s inexcusable pricing of insulin

A study showing that one in four insulin-treated patients surveyed at an urban US diabetes center were found to be cutting back on insulin use because of cost has been published.
The survey results also reveal that cost-related insulin underuse was associated with worse glycemic control and that more than a third of patients did not discuss the insulin underuse with their clinicians.
Of those who completed the survey, 25.5% (51) reported cost-related insulin underuse.

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