Senators,
I write to you on behalf of the cost of insulin in the United States of America. I myself am not diabetic, nor is anyone in my family, but I abide in the belief that “we then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak”[1]. Before the discovery of insulin, the recommendation was a diet of starvation – slow, and excruciating – which could last years before death[2].
You may or may not know that upon the discovery of insulin in 1923, Dr. Frederick Banting refused to patent it[3] – believing it to be unethical to profit from a discovery that would save lives. As an American capitalist, I understand that goods and services come at cost, and that there is no such thing as a ‘free sandwich’, however we do not run a laissez faire economy – we believe in checks and balances to protect the right of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, in order to protect the weak and disenfranchised, the poorest among us who you represent in act daily.
Affordable access to insulin is a problem in our great nation – and what a tragedy it is that your constituents are forced to pay an average of $137.35 per vial of insulin[4] at this current time. A discovery meant to be free, and for which there is no excuse, even with inclusion of cost of materials and wages, that such a prices should be paid simply to live.
Big Pharmaceutical is a catch all complaint for many things – but it is true that the real cost of production for Insulin is between $2.28 to $3.42[5]. The markup is almost 4,000 % - on a product that was always meant to be free.
In the world today, there are many injustices – this year has especially been a record breaker in activity. COVID 19, Australian bush fires, and tensions with Iran – so much happens so fast. But this is something small, upon which you can take action, as a representative of the people – as a trustee of our faith and hope.
Empower your constituents – enforce drug manufacturers to cap costs of insulin to $100 for a year’s dosage. Thank you for your time, and your service to this great nation.
Matthew B. L. Henderson
[1] Romans 15:1, KJV, The bible
[2] Allan Mazur, “Why were ‘starvation diets’ promoted for diabetes in the pre-insulin period?”, Nutrition Journal 2011; 10:23
[3] Luo J, Kesselheim AS, Greene J, Lipska KJ, “Strategies to improve the affordability of insulin in the USA.”, Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2017; 5: 158-159, published online 2011 Mar 11
[4] Manas Mishra, “Eli Lilly seeks to quell drug price anger with cheaper insulin”, https://news.yahoo.com/lilly-introduce-lower-priced-insulin-injection-114533831--finance.html, accessed 19 May 2020
[5] Dzintars Gotham, Melissa J Barber, Andrew Hill, “Production costs and potential prices for biosimilars of human insulin and insulin analogues”, https://gh.bmj.com/content/3/5/e000850, accessed 19 May 2020