Rationing insulin is on the rise, and it is killing young Americans.
On June 28, 2019, Jesimya David Scherer-Radcliff passed away. He was only 21 years old. Jesy, as he was affectionately called, was a loving, warm person with a sweet soul. He was also a type 1 diabetic who needed insulin in order to survive. Jesimya’s name is being added to a tragic list of young people whose recent deaths could have been prevented if only they been able to afford insulin. Here are a few more names on that heartbreaking list: Micah Fischer, Alec Raeshawn Smith, Meaghan Carter, Jesse Lutgen, Antavia Lee-Worsham, Shane Patrick Boyle. (1-8)
Diabetes Facts
Diabetics are divided into various categories, and each type is unique. More than 30 million Americans have some form of diabetes, and the most common are type 1 and type 2. Although type 1 and type 2 diabetes are very different, one commonality is that in both conditions, the pancreas does not function properly. (9, 10)
Type 1 Diabetes
It is estimated that only 5% of diabetics have type 1 diabetes. (15) Although type 1 diabetes can strike at any time, patients often show symptoms and are diagnosed when they’re still children, which is why it used to be called “juvenile diabetes.” Sadly, as of this writing, type 1 diabetes is an irreversible, lifelong condition with no known cause. To understand type 1 diabetes, we need to understand what the pancreas is. The pancreas is a small organ that secretes a hormone called insulin, and insulin is necessary for blood sugar regulation. In type 1 diabetics, the pancreas has completely stopped producing insulin. Therefore, type 1 diabetics are dependent on obtaining insulin from external sources in order to live. That insulin can come from daily shots or from a pump that injects insulin into the body each time they eat. (10, 11, 12, 13)
Why Americans Are Rationing Insulin
We are fortunate that in America, there is more than enough synthetically-made insulin to treat all insulin-dependent diabetics. In addition, technology has afforded type 1 diabetics the option to wear virtually painless, hard-to-see insulin pumps that easily provide remote-controlled injections of insulin. So, if life-saving insulin is so easy to access and inject, why are diabetics dying from lack of insulin? Shockingly, the insulin they need is simply too expensive. In fact, the price of insulin in the United States has skyrocketed over the last few decades. Between 2003 and 2013, the price of insulin tripled. In 2003, insulin cost an average of $4.34 per milliliter, yet that price was $12.92 just one decade later. (12, 13, 14)
This means that a type 1 diabetic who uses, say, a little more than one milliliter of insulin a day would have to fork out $6.00 a day (the cost depends on how much insulin they need per day, and that’s different for everyone). That equals $180.00 a month and more than $2,190 per year. Just to stay alive.
Dying Too Young
People with type 1 diabetes did nothing to cause their disease. They are innocent bystanders – your friend, your neighbor, your child – who happened to be diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. All they need in order to stay alive is the right amount of insulin and glucose each day. Yet, tragically, insulin is so expensive in the United States that type 1 diabetics are suffering from preventable deaths, and dying far too young.
