4 ms·

> The price of his insulin had apparently gone up again to $1300, which was more than he had in his bank account. > Five days later, he was dead. I don't mean

> The price of his insulin had apparently gone up again to $1300, which was more than he had in his bank account. > Five days later, he was dead. I don't mean to sound insensitive here, but... last I checked it's possible to pick up insulin (without a prescription) for $25 a bottle. Sure, it's not the same insulin he was probably on, but it does work (I was on it for many years). A little bit of searching on the web would have turned of this information; so why is he dead instead of on a different insulin?

wccrawford 7y ago
I'm guessing it was because people are more scared of taking unknown drugs than stopping taking their known-good drugs. IMO, we've gotten to a point in our society where there are risks we used to take routinely that we no longer think are acceptable, even when the alternative is complete failure. Prescribed medicine and other healthcare-related areas are some of those things.
- ozmodiar 7y ago
  Also keep in mind that messing up an insulin dose can kill you pretty quickly, so I can see why it would be particularly frightening. Not that it’s worse than certain death.
alistairSH 7y ago
Yes and no... https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/insulin-walmart-vial/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/insulin-walmart-vial/ There are other articles available that describe the situation. tl;dr - Yes, you can get a vial of insulin for $25. But, it's not the same kind of insulin most diabetics take. They are typically prescribed insulin analogs, which still require a prescription. The $25 version could likely keep them alive, but the dosing/usage/effects are not as consistent.
- UnpossibleJim 7y ago
  But it does work. I was on 70/30 when I was a kid and, while not as flexible, it will keep you alive. You have to be VERY strict about your diet and exercise regimen when you're older, while doing blood sugars on the regular, but you don't fucking die. (Well, far less likely, I should say)
- makomk 7y ago
  The original article is pushing the narrative that those new, fancy insulins "offered minimal benefits" compared to that older insulin, that they're just prescribed because of "aggressive marketing campaigns" by the evil big pharma, and that this is what's pushing up insulin prices. The fact that you can buy the older stuff off the shelf with no prescription for $25 is definitely a problem for its narrative, and the fact that there are genuine disadvantages to doing so is an even bigger one.
  - RHSeeger 7y ago
    The newer insulins are definitely better. Just the fact that they act faster allows one to take insulin reactively (blood is high, take a bit of insulin to bring it down). This is a large QOL boost in that it allows more flexibility in eating.
  - xyzzyz 7y ago
    Exactly. This whole narrative here sounds like "walking was invented billions of years ago, and was free. Why are cars so expensive today then?".
- RHSeeger 7y ago
  I was on R and L for 15 years or so (it's been a while, so I may be off by a bit, but it was a long time). Sure, it's not as good (as noted by others, you need to be more strict with your diet because it takes longer to work in your system and you can't take it reactively), but it _does_ work. It's certainly better than being dead.
justin66 7y ago
> I don't mean to sound insensitive here, but... last I checked it's possible to pick up insulin (without a prescription) for $25 a bottle. You don't sound insensitive, you sound ignorant.
- bartimus 7y ago
  From the article: "Walmart sells an old version of human insulin for $25, but as Lipska explained, it doesn’t work for all patients and is incompatible with many new delivery devices."
  - cjlars 7y ago
    It's much worse. The big thing with insulin is being shelf stable vs fast acting. The insulin your pancreas produces is really fast acting, but the Wal-Mart stuff is slow acting. With the fast acting stuff you can manage your blood sugars to a tighter degree. This might not sound like much, but over a lifetime it adds up to many fewer medical complications. It's true the Wal-Mart stuff will work in a pinch (if you know how to use it), but issuing it long term will likely take years off your life.
- dang 7y ago
  Ok, but please don't break the site guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html If you know more, share some of what you know so the rest of us can learn something. You can also downvote and/or flag bad comments. But please don't post one yourself—that doesn't help.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

wccrawford 7y ago

I'm guessing it was because people are more scared of taking unknown drugs than stopping taking their known-good drugs. IMO, we've gotten to a point in our society where there are risks we used to take routinely that we no longer think are acceptable, even when the alternative is complete failure. Prescribed medicine and other healthcare-related areas are some of those things.

ozmodiar 7y ago
Also keep in mind that messing up an insulin dose can kill you pretty quickly, so I can see why it would be particularly frightening. Not that it’s worse than certain death.

alistairSH 7y ago

Yes and no... https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/insulin-walmart-vial/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/insulin-walmart-vial/ There are other articles available that describe the situation. tl;dr - Yes, you can get a vial of insulin for $25. But, it's not the same kind of insulin most diabetics take. They are typically prescribed insulin analogs, which still require a prescription. The $25 version could likely keep them alive, but the dosing/usage/effects are not as consistent.

UnpossibleJim 7y ago
But it does work. I was on 70/30 when I was a kid and, while not as flexible, it will keep you alive. You have to be VERY strict about your diet and exercise regimen when you're older, while doing blood sugars on the regular, but you don't fucking die. (Well, far less likely, I should say)
makomk 7y ago
The original article is pushing the narrative that those new, fancy insulins "offered minimal benefits" compared to that older insulin, that they're just prescribed because of "aggressive marketing campaigns" by the evil big pharma, and that this is what's pushing up insulin prices. The fact that you can buy the older stuff off the shelf with no prescription for $25 is definitely a problem for its narrative, and the fact that there are genuine disadvantages to doing so is an even bigger one.
- RHSeeger 7y ago
  The newer insulins are definitely better. Just the fact that they act faster allows one to take insulin reactively (blood is high, take a bit of insulin to bring it down). This is a large QOL boost in that it allows more flexibility in eating.
- xyzzyz 7y ago
  Exactly. This whole narrative here sounds like "walking was invented billions of years ago, and was free. Why are cars so expensive today then?".
RHSeeger 7y ago
I was on R and L for 15 years or so (it's been a while, so I may be off by a bit, but it was a long time). Sure, it's not as good (as noted by others, you need to be more strict with your diet because it takes longer to work in your system and you can't take it reactively), but it _does_ work. It's certainly better than being dead.

justin66 7y ago

> I don't mean to sound insensitive here, but... last I checked it's possible to pick up insulin (without a prescription) for $25 a bottle. You don't sound insensitive, you sound ignorant.

bartimus 7y ago
From the article: "Walmart sells an old version of human insulin for $25, but as Lipska explained, it doesn’t work for all patients and is incompatible with many new delivery devices."
- cjlars 7y ago
  It's much worse. The big thing with insulin is being shelf stable vs fast acting. The insulin your pancreas produces is really fast acting, but the Wal-Mart stuff is slow acting. With the fast acting stuff you can manage your blood sugars to a tighter degree. This might not sound like much, but over a lifetime it adds up to many fewer medical complications. It's true the Wal-Mart stuff will work in a pinch (if you know how to use it), but issuing it long term will likely take years off your life.
dang 7y ago
Ok, but please don't break the site guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html If you know more, share some of what you know so the rest of us can learn something. You can also downvote and/or flag bad comments. But please don't post one yourself—that doesn't help.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]