Lena Cao, Lc206@uakron.edu
What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a chronic (long-lasting) health condition that affects how your body turns food into energy. When there is not enough insulin in your body, too much blood sugar gets trapped in your bloodstream. This leads to serious health problems such as heart diseases, vision loss, and kidney disease.
November 14 is National Diabetes Awareness month. November 14 is the birthday of Frederick Banting, a co-discoverer of insulin in 1922. Frederick and Banting sold their patent to the University of Toronto for $1 in hopes of making insulin as accessible as possible, saving many lives across the world.
Two years ago, as a freshman I wrote an article on this exact topic. In 2022, Insulin prices reached an all time high at an average of $275 per 10 ml of insulin. The United States has been consistently ranked as having the most expensive insulin prices when compared to other countries such as Mexico, Japan, Canada, and the UK. What has changed since my original article written in 2022?
Well, in the two years time span, the average price has dropped from an all time high of $275 to a near all time low of $66.4 per 10 ml of insulin. With more than a 70% decrease, this change marks a huge milestone for diabetic individuals living in America. Another change in the industry is that Eli Lilly, one of the top manufacturers of insulin, has capped the cost of insulin at $35 per month for many patients. Previously the capping of $35 per month only applied to those who were under medicaid or medicare under The Build Back Better Act in 2021. Now it has expanded to cover patients who have private insurance or have no insurance. Companies such as Novo Nordisk and Sanofi have also joined Eli Lilly. From patients paying hundreds of dollars a month out of pocket for insulin, a life saving medication, patients are now paying $35 max per month.
I hope you were able to take something out of this article. Happy Diabetes Awareness Month!
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