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Monday, September 15th, 2014

Price Tag on Old Insulin Skyrockets

Author:     KRISTINA FIORE, SARAH WICKLINE WALLAN, and ELBERT CHU
Source:     MedPage Today
Publication Date:     Sep 12, 2014
 Link: Price Tag on Old Insulin Skyrockets
Stephan:   This is further proof, if such is needed, of the truth that the Illness Profit System is about profit not wellness. This behavior ought to be criminal, that it is not tells us something important about ourselves. Source reference: Lane WS, et al "High-dose insulin therapy: is it time for U-500 insulin?" Endocrine Practice 2009; 15(1): 71-79.
Source: Redbook/Truven Health Analytics See the full infographic (Design: Gabriella D'Amato)

Source: Redbook/Truven Health Analytics
See the full infographic (Design: Gabriella D’Amato)

Retired nurse Mary Smith was having trouble controlling her type 2 diabetes on her regular insulin regimen, so her doctor decided to put her on something stronger.

Amber Taylor, MD, director of The Diabetes Center at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, wrote Smith a prescription for Humulin U-500 insulin, a much more concentrated form of the drug. It could deliver far more active ingredient at far less overall volume, which was important since Smith’s insulin doses were getting high.

But when Smith showed up at the pharmacy, she was told she’d have to shell out $900 for a vial.

“There was no way I could afford that,” Smith told MedPage Today as she recalled the pharmacy visit, which happened about a year ago. And the price has gone up since then: Now a single bottle of highly concentrated Humulin U-500 insulin that lasts a diabetes patient about one month costs $1,200 wholesale — more than five […]

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