It's worth exploring exactly what's meant by "proprietary insulin". Insulin can't be proprietary - it's a natural, widely available molecule of publicly known

It's worth exploring exactly what's meant by "proprietary insulin". Insulin can't be proprietary - it's a natural, widely available molecule of publicly known composition. What's actually proprietary in scenarios like these is some encryption key that will persuade the device to work - the fact that the key is embedded in a memory chip glued to the container is a red herring. In the case of a life-essential substance that is consumed at a predictable rate, there is no logical distinction between this and a Mafia protection racket - pay them periodically forever, or die. It shouldn't be surprising that companies will do this if they can. There was an episode of Doctor Who not too long ago where employees on a space station had to buy oxygen from the company store.