I have a Facebook friend who has three type 1 sons. She is posting about the unfairness of the cost of insulin in the US. It is impossible for many people in our country to afford the insulin that they need to survive. Why does it have to be this way? Can’t something be done to make insulin affordable?
Here is my friend’s blog:
"What if you had to inject a substance into your child multiple times a day or your child would die.
What if that substance cost only dollars to make, but you were charged hundreds of dollars for only one tiny vial. Once opened, one vial is good for only 30 days, although it is usually out in a couple weeks. Sometimes one.
What if you were late injecting that substance it could cause serious, lifelong complications to your child’s body.
What if you injected just a few drops too much and your child had to go to the emergency room.
What if your insurance denied this substance to you and you had to pay out of pocket to keep your child alive.
What if you had more than one child that needed this substance, day in and day out.
What if you lived in the US you had to pay $400 a vial for this lifesaving substance, but if you lived in Canada you only had to pay $30…and in many other countries it is free.
What if you had to pay to keep your child alive, every day. Every hour.
What if you knew that children were dying, or suffering, in the United States because their family couldn’t afford this substance.
What if one of your children had Type 1 diabetes? Because if one of your children did have it…this would be your truth.
Type 1 Diabetes can strike any person, at any age. It is an autoimmune disease. Your family can have no history. You could be vegan, breastfed until you were 5, and Olympic swimmers and you could still just as easily be at risk.
This is my life.
I have three boys with Type 1 Diabetes.
My boys must inject insulin into their bodies multiple times a day to stay alive, and the people that manufacture this insulin raise the price of it year after year.
The same insulin. Price raised. Every year.
Just because it doesn’t effect you doesn’t mean it isn’t wrong. Disgusting. And cruel.
What if your life changed in an instant and this was your reality?
What if it were you? What if it were your baby?
There is no what if.
This is happening.
Please don’t turn away.
It may be your family’s reality one day.
My children’s lives are not for profit. And yours shouldn’t be either."