On Wednesday, pharma companies were grilled about the skyrocketing insulin price that has doubled in the last five years, which has led some diabetics to ration the drug.
One study has found that by 2030, nearly 40 million people with diabetes would be affected by the underuse of insulin.
28-year-old Kristen Whitney Daniels said, “Nobody cared or nobody understood that without this next vial of insulin, I wouldn’t live to see another week. I can’t really explain how isolating and how terrifying it is.”
Daniels started rationing insulin after she was kicked off her parents’ health insurance plan around two years ago. She is a patient at the Yale Diabetes Center.
A recent study conducted by the Journal of American Medical Association has found that at least one in four patients reported underuse of insulin due to high cost.
The study’s lead author Dr. Kasia Lipska treats patients at Yale Diabetes Center, who was testified on Capitol Hill last week.
She said, “This vial of insulin cost just $21 when it first came on the market in 1996. It now costs $275.”
Some pharma companies have already reacted to the outrage.
Sanofi announced Wednesday that it would cut the insulin price for uninsured patients and those who $99 per month in cash. However, that did not eliminate advocate concerns.
Dr. Lipska said, “People are dying from lack of access to a drug that has been around for almost a century. I think it’s unconscionable.” Drug manufacturers told CBS News that have taken steps to look after the prices and would offer free medicine to people who qualify.
