The Prices of Diabetes Supplies Remain Dangerously High, but at What Expense?
By Amanda Fales | Observer Contributor
Editor’s Note: This article was written a few months prior to Professor David Wyman’s unexpected death on August 12.
The cost of insulin has skyrocketed and has left people with diabetes struggling to get what they can’t live without. This issue has been felt worldwide and has impacted some of the faculty at Mount Wachusett firsthand.
According to the CDC article “What is Prediabetes,” “Insulin is a hormone made by your pancreas” used to control blood sugar. For those with diabetes, going without this drug could cause them to become ill or even die.
Diabetes can be seen as a financial burden, and insulin’s price directly contributes to that. In a Feb. 2, 2021 article from Austin American-Statesman, David Tridgell, an endocrinologist with diabetes, explained that depending on how many viles needed (this may differ if a patient is type 1 or type 2), patients could spend upwards of $2,300 each month on insulin.
Collene Thaxton, an Assistant Professor of Nursing at Mount Wachusett, has had firsthand experience with this expense. “I’ve been a diabetic for about 41 years now,” Thaxton shared. “I have had my occasional struggles where I had to ration my insulin.”
Rationing insulin is becoming more common as the price of insulin increases, but it can come with a serious cost, such as ketoacidosis. In the article “Diabetic Ketoacidosis,” the CDC explained that diabetic ketoacidosis occurs when there is not enough insulin circulating in the body, leaving the liver to “break down fat” and create “ketones.” Not only can this be life-threatening, but hospital bills could pile on top of an already heavy financial strain.
“It’s a cruel system,” said David Wyman, a professor at Mount Wachusett and diabetic of 40 years. “[P]eople have this illness and need insulin to live, yet the cost and process of getting it is difficult, to say the least.”
Thaxton is passionate about this issue and brings it up frequently in her course. “I am big on educating students on the problems diabetics go through,” Thaxton stated. “I talk about accessibility but also discuss problems with medicine and food.”
Food is another thing people with diabetes need to be aware of, as carbohydrates raise blood sugar. This means that insulin must be administered each time someone with diabetes eats. Kristen Rice, a diabetes nurse educator at Boston Children’s Hospital, stated, “I’ve heard of patients not eating because they’re scared that they’ll run out of medication.”
This struggle worsened with the pandemic. “You’re at home all the time; you can’t work,” Wyman explained. “Some people have no income coming in. What are they supposed to do?”
In a Dec. 7, 2018 article from Stat News, Tahir Amin, co-executive director of the non-profit I-MAK, pointed out that insulin manufacturers receive millions of dollars a day for their product but refuse to lower their prices because of a small market. With corporations having such a “monopoly” (and profit because of it), this problem is very tricky to solve.
“Insulin companies need less big investors,” Wyman explained, “and the government needs to follow through and cap the cost of at $35.” Thaxton agreed as she stated, “capping the cost at $35 is a big step.”
“It’s not just insulin that’s the problem,” Thaxton continued. “There’s test strips and lancets and pump supplies, but insulin makes up most of that cost.”
In a July 6, 2021 article from the Diatribe Foundation, managing editor for Diatribe Learn, Arvind Sommi, revealed that Walmart now sells insulin that ranges in costs from $25 for the Novolin or “Human Insulin” to $72.88 for a Novolog vial and $85.88 “for a package of 5 prefilled [Novolog] insulin pens.”
Thaxton found out about this by luck. She has a dog that is also a diabetic, leaving her the responsibility to provide insulin not just for herself but also for her furry friend. “I went to my pharmacy to get my dog’s insulin,” Thaxton explained. “It was $180 a vial.” While shopping at Walmart, she figured she’d ask the store if they sold insulin. Thaxton said, “they do, and it was only $25 dollars.”
There is still more work that needs to be done, but small changes have begun to take place. “I have high hopes for these plans to work,” Rice shared. “But the future is unknown. Once I see more progress, I’ll feel more optimistic.”
President Biden has been trying to take steps to correct this problem. In a Dec. 6, 2021 article from The American Presidency Project, President Biden explained that his Build Back Better Bill seeks to reduce the price of insulin and would allow for the government to have more control over pharmaceutical companies.
However, recent strides toward lowering these costs have not gone as many would have hoped. Journalist Michael Sainato in an Aug. 12 article from The Guardian, explained that in partnership with the “Inflation Reduction Act,” the request for insulin costs to be capped at $35 per month had been “blocked,” but that a co-pay cap ($35) was set for those with Medicare. Yet as co-founder of Insulin Initiative, Laura Marston, mentioned in this article, this still leaves the problem of insulin costs to remain.
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