Drug Pricing in America, Prices of Insulin Sky-Rocketing
To ration food when you’re a stuck in the middle of nowhere not expecting supplies anytime soon makes sense. However, rationing drugs when you’re trying to live a normal life in America is something that people might say happens only in a parallel universe. However, the sad reality is that this isn’t a nightmare Americans can wake up from, it is as true as the sun rising from the east and setting in the west. Drug Pricing is literally killing Americans as insulin prices continue to skyrocket.
What is Insulin?
Insulin isn’t just a normal drug it is basically a hormone that is produced in the pancreas to regulate the amount of glucose in the blood. If it isn’t secreted enough, the body faces a lack of insulin ultimately causing a form of diabetes. Too high insulin causes loss of vision, nausea and eventually organ failure, whereas too low leads to seizures and loss of consciousness.
The price of Insulin, over the years
When Insulin was discovered, back in the year 1932, the patent was sold at a mere price of 1 dollar, not because it was that cheap but because it would help keep the price low in years to come so that it is available to every person who needs it.
However, the retail prices of insulin in The United States of America is near 300 dollars for each of the three companies that have a firm grip over the market. Not only is this way more than what would be reasonable, but, it is unaffordable on a daily basis.
What is happening because of this?
The first story is of a 26-year-old, Alec Smith. He lost his life because he couldn’t afford insulin. He used to earn more than the minimum wage but couldn’t keep up with the deadly inflation. As soon as he aged out of his mother’s insurance plan, he started rationing the medicines that ultimately cost him his life.
Apart from this, there are cases throughout America when people have to sell their cars, dogs, houses and ultimately relocate because of the inflation in prices which shot up from somewhere around 30$ a vial in 1995 to a whopping 275$ twenty years later.
Who to point a finger at?
The Pharmaceutical Companies, The Insurance Companies or The Government?
Amongst the many things going wrong in The United States of America, lack of transparency is a key issue. May it be the government or issues related to insurance companies. In The United States of America, Insurance companies hire pharmacy benefit managers that help fix discount with drug manufacturers.
This discount (called rebate) is negotiated behind closed doors. Ultimately, this means that every company has a different rate. Also, the pharmacy benefit managers get a hefty cut for themselves increasing the cost of the already sky-rocketing insulin.
Medical Tourists
Wandering off to another place for better supplies and facilities is not an alien concept, however, moving from The United State of America to Mexico isn’t something that anyone would call normal. This is the story of a 27-year-old Emily who joined a couple of people going to Tijuana, Mexico. She ended up buying 6 months supplies of Insulin at a mere 100$, around 1400$ less than what it would’ve been if she would’ve bought it from The United States of America. She also took Instagram to share this story where a 5$ round trip to Mexico saved her more than a thousand dollars.
What are the possible solutions?
The entirely dysfunctional system has issues at every step, Transparency should be the key focus of everyone instead of choosing to point fingers. It should be made sure that the discounts are negotiated with the insurance companies and there should be no middlemen trying to have their cut of the profit. This would help make sure that the customers in dire need of this essential drug are able to reap the benefits of the reduced drug price.
Apart from this, Insulin is regulated as a chemical drug. This means that it is subject to patents which give pharmaceutical companies the liberty to decide the prices. However, since it is generated the human body, it can be regulated as a biological product. This, if implemented, would help to cut down the price of insulin and would play a major role in bringing its price back to the affordable region.
Conclusion
Insulin is not the only drug caught up in this whole mess but, it is one of the only ones that are can cause a life-threatening scenario at this price.
With the Elections approaching in 2020, Drug Pricing would play a major role. With Democrats tightening their shoe-laces already having more than a dozen nominations for president, it would be an interesting topic to approach.
Now more than ever, because at this price? Affording Insulin has become a luxury and it’s like someone keeping a gun to your head and asking you, “YOUR LIFE OR YOUR MONEY”
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