I am Canadian, and a story has just hit the newscast that causes me great grief and pain. We are seeing hordes of American diabetics crossing the border, not to immigrate, although I’m sure many want to, but to buy insulin at prices they can afford. I don’t resent them coming here to buy our insulin, we have lots, and you can get most types without a prescription here. The newscast told us that a vial of insulin costs up to $350 in the US. That makes it more precious than platinum. I pay about $33 for a vial of NovoRapid, plus a small dispensing fee. And that its $33 Canadian, or about $24 US. What are you doing about it?
If every American member here were to write to the President, the State Governor, the Secretaries of Health, their State and Federal legislators, EVERY DAY, that might get some attention. They would get tired of having their inboxes full of your requests every day, and could at least not say they didn’t realize the importance of the issue. Find a picture of Alex Snith and attach it to your correspondence (the young man who died because he couldn’t afford insulin.) The prices demanded by the profiteering drug interests are obscene, as is the fact that people are rationing their insulin and dying because of it.
Your legislators need to heat you screaming loud and long! Make yourselves heard.
Rest assured, Roger212, we are working on it. Thanks for reminding us to keep at it now that session has ended. Nothing happens quickly and many things will take more than one session in gov. Have you watched the federal hearings? Theres been lots of moves and counter-moves. This is the slowest horse race in the world.
We love our Canadian friends in the North! They tell us lots of things that help!
Nope that will not have any effect as some low level staffer will just re-direct all that correspondence right to a trash bin. 2-3 caravans of lets say 3 bus loads of Americans on their way from 3 different states to Canada to buy insulin covered by the main stream media would get this Titanic turned around in a heart beat and if the first attempt did not get results, a second such effort within a couple of months would do the trick.
Our country is now all about visual effects and sound bites on radio/TV
You have to hit the right staffer. They are the gatekeepers. One of our legislative staff members has done as much as anyone to get legislation into committee. He has a relative with diabetes and has been advocating for us full time this session. He works for MN state Senator Little. He helped get a lot going in our state.
As noted on other posts, we are smashed with news stories about insulin and diabetes over the last 6 months. Its wild. Its helping.
I think its going in a couple of others, but I’m not sure how much will end up getting solved by the state and how much will have to happen at a Federal level. They seem to have parallel state and federal strategies going simultaneously. Its happening, but its gonna take more than one session…maybe three. IDK.
Our MN ADA representative is working from Denver. But, they are targeting MN legislation. Its kinda strange. They come to play ball where things are happening. She flew out to talk to us. I would guess that they wrote the bills. Our state gov is all locked up because the Senate is owned by one party and the House is run by the other. They are going to Omnibus. This whole year is a wash.
Terry4’s senator has been been really active at the federal level (Oregon). MN state attorney general has a lawsuit against the insulin manufacturers, as you probably know. Canada sells same insulin for 90% off
We will keep our fingers crossed. Fortunately Canada is just a 2 1/4 hour drive for me and the Canada pharmacy is about 800 feet from the border so I will continue to drive up periodically to pick up my insulin. Not only is insu;lin 90% off in Canada, but I can also get Lantus cartridges in Canada which are not even available in the US at any price, so I have better selection available in Canada.
Wow! You guys had Docs, nurses out protesting. Thats cool. This is hard-core! I remember hearing out this. Gut wrenching.
“The week before Thanksgiving, in the freezing rain, a group of patients, nurses, physicians and activists, organized by the Right Care Alliance, marched on the Sanofi drug company in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Sanofi had been marking up its insulin products by as much as 4,500 percent over to the estimated cost of producing a single vial — and people with type 1 diabetes were starting to die. Led by grieving mothers, we carried the ashes of their children to the insulin manufacturer demanding it cut its prices.”
Yea, I wrote to the newspaper and they didn’t publish. You have to try more than once. Its a big effort.
I am treated at Joslin in Boston - A couple of years ago, I was asked by my endo if I would talk to the press as they were supposed to expose this whole issue and my endo knows that I travel all over the world and buy my insulin outside of the US. She passed on my information to the reporter but I was never contacted.
I am probably a little out of the loop as I live 85 miles West of Boston and spend a considerable amount of my time in my offices in China and India but am always willing to pitch in where able. That is what is great about this board as I can be anywhere in the world or online at 35,000 ft in an airplane and have an inkling of what is happening in the world of diabetes. I am also very thankful for you and all the other boots on the ground that keep pushing this issue at the legislative level.
Every visit to Joslin, I remind them that I am available to help where able and am told nothing is in the immediate works.
We obviously need a change on pricing here, I’m not arguing that. But no one needs to die from not getting insulin. Walmart sells it cheap at either $25 or $35 a bottle. And in California you can get free vials at the free medical clinics. (they used to hand out free Lantus) The free clinics are all over the place at least in So Calif to deal with illegal immigrants and their medical needs. (Our tax dollars at work, if you need it, take advantage of it.)
These people take hundreds of thousands of dollars from big pharma - they could care less if you scream, call, email or write. They are masters at circle talk
Its over the top. We got 'em this time. They have been working on this for YEARS. I think they have some decent evidence. I dont think its too early to get excited. Feel good about it. Its a long time in coming.
Its a strange situation where the law is winning, but for once they are not against us.
Might as well get used to writing letters, though. There’s plenty to do after this.
Big pharma is going to head to court and claim their innocence through years of discovery, delays, appeals etc. I think it is a great start but would certainly not expect much of any relief to the consumer in the next 10 years. There is just too much money, too many companies and too many people involved in the process.
