100th anniversary of insulin

[Allan]

100 years ago today a 14 year old boy dying of diabetes in Toronto General Hospital was given the first insulin injection. Leonard Thompson went on to live 13 more years. The discovery of insulin was made by Frederick Banting and Charles Best at the University of Toronto and they shared a Nobel Prize for the discovery.

Millions of lives have been saved since then and we probably all know people who would not survive without the life-saving treatment.

Banting sold the patent to the University for $1 and the UofT gave it freely to drug companies to manufacture. Since then pharmaceutical companies have distributed insulin and in recent years have raised prices substantially. Since 2014 the price per unit has tripled in the US. Generic versions aren't available in the US as companies make incremental improvements and changes to protect their market.

Without access to generic versions or national purchasing Americans are gouged and some can't afford to take full doses resulting in organ damage, blindness and death.

Here's a good example of costs/country. Costs are patient expenditure dollars/ml:

Humalog (Rapid-Acting Insulin)​

• United States: $13.47
• Canada: $3.16
• Japan: $2.00
• France, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal: $0.00

100 years of insulin: a technical success but an access failure

Insulin 100 - University of Toronto

 

[aociswundumho]

Generic versions aren't available in the US as companies make incremental improvements and changes to protect their market.

Yes, thanks to government regulations which make it illegal to import.

Americans Cross Border Into Mexico To Buy Insulin At A Fraction Of U.S. Cost - KFF Health News

For one patient, a three-month supply of insulin is $3,700 in the U.S. versus $600 in Mexico. But is it legal?

khn.org

This terrible situation exists entirely because of the despicable regulatory state. Companies should be allowed to import it and resell it in the US, but they can't, thanks to the progressive regulatory state.

Progressives are the best friend a giant corporation ever had.

 

[Allan]

Yes, thanks to government regulations which make it illegal to import.

Americans Cross Border Into Mexico To Buy Insulin At A Fraction Of U.S. Cost - KFF Health News

For one patient, a three-month supply of insulin is $3,700 in the U.S. versus $600 in Mexico. But is it legal?

khn.org

This terrible situation exists entirely because of the despicable regulatory state. Companies should be allowed to import it and resell it in the US, but they can't, thanks to the progressive regulatory state.

Progressives are the best friend a giant corporation ever had.

Insulin is manufactured in the US. You don't need to import it.

 

[aociswundumho]

Insulin is manufactured in the US. You don't need to import it.

If you want price competition, you need to import it.

What you want is fascist progressive economics where big government protects the high profits of big pharma.

 

[Greenbeard]

This terrible situation exists entirely because of the despicable regulatory state. Companies should be allowed to import it and resell it in the US, but they can't, thanks to the progressive regulatory state.

"I want to pay what they pay in the countries with price controls, but the progressive regulatory state won't let me!" is libertarianism at its finest.

If you want price competition, you need to import it.

This is the same concept as a public option. Fostering price competition by allowing the introduction of a price-controlled product into the market to challenge the higher-priced incumbents. I had no idea you were in favor of such things!

 

[aociswundumho]

"I want to pay what they pay in the countries with price controls, but the progressive regulatory state won't let me!" is libertarianism at its finest.

What price controls? I can't find anything regarding insulin price controls in Mexico. Could you provide a citation?

 

[Greenbeard]

What price controls? I can't find anything regarding insulin price controls in Mexico. Could you provide a citation?

Oh, your broadside on the "progressive regulatory state" is really limited to just insulin and just Mexico. Such bold rhetoric for such incremental regulatory change!

 

[aociswundumho]

Oh, your broadside on the "progressive regulatory state" is really limited to just insulin and just Mexico. Such bold rhetoric for such incremental regulatory change!

Ah, so you can't back up your claims about price controls, which means you are just talking out of your ass.

 

[j brown's body]

Is it safe enough to take yet?

 

[Greenbeard]

Ah, so you can't back up your claims about price controls, which means you are just talking out of your ass.

I’m with you, let’s let Americans buy Canadian drugs at Canadian prices instead of blocking importation. The free market in action!

 

[aociswundumho]

I’m with you, let’s let Americans buy Canadian drugs at Canadian prices instead of blocking importation. The free market in action!

Even better, let any company in the US import any drug from any other country and resell it here. It would be a huge benefit to the American people.

 

[psikeyhackr]

SInsulin is manufactured in the US. You don't need to import it.

But why shouldn't Canadians import it at half the US price? The US government wants to kill Americans?