5 ms·

This doesn't pass the smell test. Anyone making the decade-old version of insulin and selling it for 1% of the price would corner a large portion of the market

by hug 5y ago

This doesn't pass the smell test. Anyone making the decade-old version of insulin and selling it for 1% of the price would corner a large portion of the market immediately. Anyone without good health insurance, which is a large and increasing part of the population, would immediately jump on the lower priced version. And since when are insurance companies excited to pay for the more expensive drug with limited extra utility anyway? You are giving far too much credit to what is on the face of it a broken system.

coryrc 5y ago
You can buy the old one for cheap now: https://diabetesstrong.com/walmart-insulin/ https://diabetesstrong.com/walmart-insulin/ That's 6% not 1% of the cost of new ones, though.
- MagnumOpus 5y ago
  Since this month - and it is headline news all over the country... It shouldn't be extraordinary that cheap drugs needed by millions are available cheaply. (See also: Epi Pens.)
  - themaninthedark 5y ago
    Since 2000. >McInnis explained since 2000, Walmart has sold ReliOn insulin, the only private insulin brand on the market retailing at $24.88 per vial. https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/verify-yes-walmart-does-sell-25-insulin-without-prescription-or-insurance/83-26b7efb9-d5e1-43d6-8874-7fcc05a71ccc https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/verify-yes-walmart-do... Walmart just started selling analog insulin(the newer formulation) just recently. https://nypost.com/2021/06/29/walmart-to-launch-its-own-low-price-brand-of-insulin/ https://nypost.com/2021/06/29/walmart-to-launch-its-own-low-...
    - herbst 5y ago
      Still 2 to 3 times as much as literally everywhere else.
brigandish 5y ago
> This doesn't pass the smell test. We saw something similar happen during the pandemic. There has to be infrastructure and people with the skill and knowledge to support an industry available, and even if you had those people available you can't just ramp up production in any old place. That's why there were supply chain problems and will continue to be, the UK won't be making its own drugs (designing, yes, making, no) just because it did in the past, the US won't be making computer chips just because it did in the past. There being a profit to be made isn't enough. > You are giving far too much credit to what is on the face of it a broken system. The system may be broken but fixing it takes more than a wave of the hand.
dtech 5y ago
> Anyone without good health insurance, which is a large and increasing part of the population, would immediately jump on the lower priced version. Medicine isn't like a supermarket, people usually just take what their doctor/hospital prescribes. In addition, I think it's likely that those with no/worse health insurance are on average less informed.
- herbst 5y ago
  I often talk about costs with doctors. Sometimes they offer things my health care does not (fully) cover, sometimes it's about pure luxury (like a arm bandage that is super nice to wear). Or my dentist, I can choose between different pain killers, one of them costs a little extra but goes away way faster. I would think it's weird if my doc assumes I just want the cheapest available option.
Cthulhu_ 5y ago
^ Exactly this. They can sell the premium version for however much they choose to, but the cheaper one - the affordable, the one that should be given out for free - is simply not available enough, it's being suppressed by the pharma industry in favor of their own premium, expensive product. I mean what are people else going to do, die? Oh wait. I don't understand commenters in this thread coming out in defense of pharmacy companies using their monopoly or influence to deny health care to people that need it. It should be considered a criminal offense. It's anti-competitive. I mean with insulin it's a massive hole in the market - why hasn't anyone else been able to jump into that gap and make a killing?

by hug 5y ago

coryrc 5y ago

You can buy the old one for cheap now: https://diabetesstrong.com/walmart-insulin/ https://diabetesstrong.com/walmart-insulin/ That's 6% not 1% of the cost of new ones, though.

MagnumOpus 5y ago
Since this month - and it is headline news all over the country... It shouldn't be extraordinary that cheap drugs needed by millions are available cheaply. (See also: Epi Pens.)
- themaninthedark 5y ago
  Since 2000. >McInnis explained since 2000, Walmart has sold ReliOn insulin, the only private insulin brand on the market retailing at $24.88 per vial. https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/verify-yes-walmart-does-sell-25-insulin-without-prescription-or-insurance/83-26b7efb9-d5e1-43d6-8874-7fcc05a71ccc https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/verify-yes-walmart-do... Walmart just started selling analog insulin(the newer formulation) just recently. https://nypost.com/2021/06/29/walmart-to-launch-its-own-low-price-brand-of-insulin/ https://nypost.com/2021/06/29/walmart-to-launch-its-own-low-...
  - herbst 5y ago
    Still 2 to 3 times as much as literally everywhere else.

brigandish 5y ago

> This doesn't pass the smell test. We saw something similar happen during the pandemic. There has to be infrastructure and people with the skill and knowledge to support an industry available, and even if you had those people available you can't just ramp up production in any old place. That's why there were supply chain problems and will continue to be, the UK won't be making its own drugs (designing, yes, making, no) just because it did in the past, the US won't be making computer chips just because it did in the past. There being a profit to be made isn't enough. > You are giving far too much credit to what is on the face of it a broken system. The system may be broken but fixing it takes more than a wave of the hand.

dtech 5y ago

> Anyone without good health insurance, which is a large and increasing part of the population, would immediately jump on the lower priced version. Medicine isn't like a supermarket, people usually just take what their doctor/hospital prescribes. In addition, I think it's likely that those with no/worse health insurance are on average less informed.

herbst 5y ago
I often talk about costs with doctors. Sometimes they offer things my health care does not (fully) cover, sometimes it's about pure luxury (like a arm bandage that is super nice to wear). Or my dentist, I can choose between different pain killers, one of them costs a little extra but goes away way faster. I would think it's weird if my doc assumes I just want the cheapest available option.

Cthulhu_ 5y ago

^ Exactly this. They can sell the premium version for however much they choose to, but the cheaper one - the affordable, the one that should be given out for free - is simply not available enough, it's being suppressed by the pharma industry in favor of their own premium, expensive product. I mean what are people else going to do, die? Oh wait. I don't understand commenters in this thread coming out in defense of pharmacy companies using their monopoly or influence to deny health care to people that need it. It should be considered a criminal offense. It's anti-competitive. I mean with insulin it's a massive hole in the market - why hasn't anyone else been able to jump into that gap and make a killing?